Avs-Sharks Game 4 player grades: All evened up

Tyson Barrie (C+) – He got crushed in shot metrics tonight. Absolutely crushed. But the eyes told me he played a vital role in attacking San Jose’s system and his willingness to jump into the play and skate aggressively up the ice opens up options and freedom for teammates to make plays. He is largely responsible for Colorado’s success in attacking the 1-3-1. His skating makes a huge difference against a team that wants nothing to do with strong skaters.

Gabriel Bourque (F) – It hasn’t happened yet these playoffs until tonight but I thought Bourque was simply awful. He had a couple of big checks but you know what you don’t have when you’re hitting someone? THE PUCK. He botched a couple of offensive looks and was just awful. His first time this postseason where I’ve felt he was a net negative.

Derick Brassard (F) – See: Bourque, Gabriel. He has much better than this.

Matt Calvert (B) – Guy is a warrior. He got rocked by Brent Burns making the play on the ENG in Game 2. Tonight, he didn’t look any worse for the wear and was a major factor on a great PK unit.

Ian Cole (B) – He needed a strong response after an overall frustrating showing last game. He played the kind of rugged game the Avalanche really need from him overall if they’re going to pull wins from this Sharks team.

J.T. Compher (C) – Solid shot metrics but not really much of a discernible impact on the game as a whole. Not getting caved in though = good stuff.

Samuel Girard (B+) – Another solid overall game for G. He didn’t get an assist on MacKinnon’s goal but he made a hell of a play on the sequence leading to it. This kid is the real deal.

Philipp Grubauer (A+) – Easiest way to avoid a guy like me trying to assign blame on a goal against? Don’t give up goals. Yahtzee.

Erik Johnson (A) – That’s why you don’t sit him for Patrik Nemeth. Johnson responded to a brutal Game 3 performance with a very strong overall Game 4 outing. He scored the empty-net goal to ice the game at 3-0 with about one minute remaining in the third period.

Tyson Jost (C+) – Tonight had to be frustrating for him. He was doing some things but everyone on his line looked like they were out to sabotage the good he was creating. They, of course, weren’t intentionally doing it but Jost had to feel a little snakebitten after another string of solid plays led to very little. The process is nice but his line got rocked tonight. I don’t put that solely on Jost, though the longer it takes him to produce the more real ammo his ‘haters’ have.

Alexander Kerfoot (C) – Some good and bad with Kerfoot tonight. Drew a penalty, committed a penalty, created offense, missed shots. He had one good scoring chance early that caused him to look to the heavens after the stop was made and use adult language. This is a family environment, Kerfy!

Gabriel Landeskog (A-) – Early on it looked like it might be another frustrating game for Landeskog but he definitely came on as he wanted it more and more. He was a huge difference-maker in this lineup. He finished with four SOG, six hits, three blocks, and went 67% in the faceoff circle. He was an all-around handful this evening. What a play he made at the blueline to keep the puck in on the Wilson goal.

Cale Makar (A-) – Outside of Sven Andrighetto’s cameo in this serious, Makar is leading the Avs in CF% at even strength. He looks like a seasoned veteran on most shifts and the few youngster mistakes he’s made he hasn’t repeated. That’s a huge sign of a smart kid who listens and understands what’s being asked of him. The sky really is the limit for this.

Nathan MacKinnon (A) – It’s not quite the same level of statistical dominance from the rest of this series but it also feels like they live and die with 29’s confidence swings. He was swinging mighty and true tonight and the Avalanche fell into line. He extended his point streak to eight games, the most since Peter Forsberg back in the early 2000s. Anytime you’re chasing Forsberg, Sakic, or in this case both, you know something special is taking place.

Matt Nieto (B) – Speaking of something special happening, Matt Nieto has six points in the playoffs. I know he’s loving carving up his former team a bit, especially since he went from the glory of a Cup run to riding shotgun in the top six of a 48-point team. Now he’s trying to take down his old mates and put the final nail in a Cup-less era of Sharks hockey. Sports are funny that way. Nieto has been so good.

Mikko Rantanen (A-) – It’s hard to grade Rantanen poorly given two assists and the second one was simply brilliance at work when he dropped the puck to Wilson. The minus on the grade is because Rantanen could have had four points pretty easily. He just couldn’t quite find his feet or the handle on the puck when the moment called for it a few times tonight.

Carl Soderberg (D) – It was Soderberg’s postseason in a microcosm when his third attempt to put a puck into an empty net, he accidentally knocked it out again and got an unofficial save for the Sharks. He needs a breakthrough game so badly. The frustration has got to be getting to him by now. The Avs need him to step up, especially on the road.

Colin Wilson (B+) – A nice goal where the majority of the work was done by Landeskog and Rantanen but he still finished it off. That’s one reason he still finds himself on the top PP unit. He’s followed up his five PPGs in the regular season with three in the playoffs. Tonight’s was an easy one but he’s finding a way and that’s what teams who advance in the postseason have: finishers.

Nikita Zadorov (C+) – Like with Barrie, the shot metrics look bad but I don’t think he played poorly tonight. Unlike Barrie, I don’t think he had any hidden value in attacking a team’s system or anything like that going for him. He played a solid game that didn’t include any careless penalties. He and Barrie together just crush teams with their variance of preferred playstyles.