Avs/Red Wings Grades - Big Mack's Team

The Colorado Avalanche came back from a 3-1 deficit to pick up a huge win in overtime over the Detroit Red Wings.

How did each player perform?  Let’s find out…

Sven Andrighetto (B) – That line had a really strong start to the night and kind of tailed off but the penalties may have had something to do with  it.  You’d still like to see Ghetto pick up some more points than he has recently.

Mark Barberio (D) – Barbs has struggled of late and he was benched most of the third period.  His decision to jump in before seeing what happened with EJ’s shot on the second Wings goal was a high risk play and it burned him.

Tyson Barrie (B-) – Barrie had a tough start to the game.  He hasn’t looked right since returning but he was launching shots with ease on the late rush and was fantastic in overtime.

Jonathan Bernier (B-) – It’s tough to fault him on any of the goals.  He did make some really big saves to keep the game relatively close in the third period and it ended up being huge.

Chris Bigras (C) – Bigras had a tough moment on his first shift of the second period, turning it over behind the net that led to some chances.  He also had a great defensive play that period, breaking up a cross ice pass with perfection.  Hard to get a read on him when he barely played.

Blake Comeau (A) – It is sure looking like if the Avs truly wanted too, they could get something good for Comeau at the deadline, but he’s been huge this year.  He had an absurd 90% CF today and was tremendous again.

J.T. Compher (C) – I think it’s apparent he is playing with one hand at this point, and doesn’t look comfortable.  Had a big chance in overtime and also passed up a good one.

Samuel Girard (B-) – Another strong possession game for him at 60%.  My only real complaint for him is that other teams are catching on to his spin moves a bit.  He’ll need to try some new things.

Erik Johnson (A-) – Only downside was the shot that got blocked and led to the second Wings goal.  Other than that, he was tremendous and had an absurd nine shot attempts at even strength.  Another 30-minute game for him.

Alexander Kerfoot (C+) – His best chance came in the second when he whiffed on a wide open chance in the slot.  He did control the puck well on the final 6-on-5, and that says a lot that the coach had him out there.

Gabriel Landeskog (C+) – It was a rough first two periods for Landy.  He couldn’t corral the puck at all, and even blew a 3-on-1 with his inability to make a pass.  Like the rest of his line, they picked it up in the third.

Nathan MacKinnon (B+) – His slower start is the only reason for not getting an A.  He is electric in 3-on-3, and as we’re seeing, this team will only go as far as he takes them offensively.

Matt Nieto (B) – I thought that was one of Nieto’s stronger games of late.  He worked well on the PK and did nice things in the offensive zone.  He is still inconsistent, but that’s why he’s hanging around those bottom lines and not doing much more.

Mikko Rantanen (F) – The Avs kind of bailed Mikko out with the win, because he had a rough night with three penalties and not a ton created offensively.

Carl Soderberg (B+) – He is really tremendous in front of the net, and I’m not sure why he wasn’t used there last year.  He’s so creative, and he stood in there and took a beating before the tying goal hit him and went in.

Dominic Toninato (B+) – Hard not to be impressed with his game.  He’s a really smart player, and he was only credited with one shot even though he had more.  Picked up his first point in the NHL and worked hard all game.  He was the Avs best faceoff guy too.

Colin Wilson (C) – The giveaway on the first goal where he just blindly threw it to the point man was unacceptable.  He did pick up a bit of a flukey assist on the Yakupov goal to make up for it.  He was at the bottom for the Avs forwards in CF%.

Nail Yakupov (B) – A huge goal for him, showing how dangerous his shot truly is.  He really hasn’t done a lot on the PP so it was nice to see him bury one there.  He’s on pace for well over 20 goals, and that would be tremendous if he kept it up.

Nikita Zadorov (B+) – Z was out there the last 45 seconds to get it to OT with EJ.  That tells you what you need to know about how the coaches liked his game.  He stepped up to throw a big hit and create a turnover about 15 seconds before the Avs scored their first goal.  Led the Avs D in CF% at 72%. Only rough moment was a soft clear attempt that was intercepted and converted into a power-play goal by Niklas Kronwall.

The Avs head home to take on the Dallas Stars on Wednesday.  The game starts at 7 PM MST.