Avs-Sharks grades: No way, Jose

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Another loss in San Jose. Last Avs victory here was in 2015. Let’s get to the grades:

Mikko Rantanen (B+) – I think No. 96 is playing slightly hurt right now, with a lower-body thing. But that didn’t stop him from having a good game. He scored one of the Avs’ three goals and was pretty strong on the puck.

Nathan MacKinnon (C-) – Just not a good night for Nate. His bad back pass led to the odd-man-rush and penalty taken as a result, leading to San Jose’s fourth goal. He was just a bit too fancy off the rush and had two shots on net.

Gabe Landeskog (A) – He assisted on all three Avs goals and was tough on the puck, and good defensively. He’s had a career year.

Alexander Kerfoot (B-) – He had an assist and had decent puck-possession numbers (10 Corsi for, six against). This might be a slightly generous grade for what he really did out there, but hey.

Carl Soderberg (C) – A tough night for Carl. Had a chance to tie it late, but his one-timer was blocked by J.T. Compher. Had a rough night on puck possession too. But the man always plays hard.

J.T. Compher (D) – The effort was there, but the results were lacking. Lost seven of eight faceoffs.

Derick Brassard (D) – Didn’t really notice him once all night. He was a minus-1 in nearly 15 minutes, with no shots, poor analytics numbers too. Bednar played him at wing, which I think is the wrong place for him. He’s better as a center.

Sven Andrighetto (D) – Invisible throughout.

Colin Wilson (F) – Two Corsi for, 15 against, looked slow. The early-season version of Wilson did lots of good things in a top-6 role. As the season has progressed, though, his production has fallen off.

Matt Calvert (C+) – I thought Calvy battled and could have had a better night with a little good fortune. But would-coulda-shouldas only go so far.

Sheldon Dries (C-) – Didn’t play a lot, so tough to judge. But he didn’t do much when he was out there. He doesn’t really have a pure puck-possession game, as he rarely carries the puck. He darts around the puck and tries to go to the net, but he just doesn’t actually possess the puck enough to put points on the board.

Tyson Jost (C) – Nothing awful about his game tonight. Nothing awesome either. He only had one shot on net in his nearly 12 minutes.

Erik Johnson (F) – Just one of those nights for No. 6. A minus-3, terrible Corsi numbers, shot that hit his stick went past Varly for goal No. 2. He was also part of the Avs crew that was pinned in their own zone for about three minutes late in the second period, leading to that killer third goal.

Sam Girard (B-) – A trick-or-treat kind of night. Had some turnovers in the first half of the game, but scored a brilliant goal that cut it to 4-3 in the third.

Patrik Nemeth (C) – Took a penalty, was just kind of there overall. Might be on the pine for Sunday’s game in favor of Ryan Graves.

Tyson Barrie (C-) – I didn’t love his game. He attempted some shots, but he seems to have lost a MPH or two on his slapper. Was sloppy with the puck at times in his own zone.

Ian Cole (C) – Had a tough night puck-possession wise and took a penalty. He did get an assist. He seemed a step slow, which I guess is understandable considering it was his first game in three weeks.

Nikita Zadorov (B+) – Scored a goal on a great slap shot and was physical and mostly safe with the puck.

Semyon Varlamov (C+) – Made 36 saves, some of them very tough ones. But he just didn’t quite have his A game tonight.