Avs-Sharks player grades: Another failed comeback

Jesse here from a very cold Pepsi Center press box. But it is really warm up here compared to the Avs’ locker room after a 5-4 loss to the San Jose Sharks.

Colorado spent most of Wednesday night trying to come back from a multi-goal deficit, which is what it seems like all they do anymore. I used the eye-test for most of these grades tonight as San Jose sat back and defended a big lead in the third so the fancy stats were a bit skewed.

Tyson Barrie (D+) – Not a strong game for Tyson Barrie. A turnover, then an overskated puck led directly to a goal against that really kind of felt like it buried the game. He gets a small grade bump for going elbow-in on the third goal.

Gabriel Bourque (F) –AJ always says that fourth liners don’t have much of an impact on the game. Bourque’s failed clearing attempts twice led to two goals against. This fourth liner had a pretty big impact on the game… and it wasn’t good.

Matt Calvert (C+) – He played with a lot of speed and scored a goal tonight. I really like the hustle, but he just struggles to generate a ton of offense when he needs to.

Ian Cole (C-) –  I remember a handful of mistakes from Cole tonight, and not much else.

J.T. Compher (B) – I think Compher has been Colorado’s best player consistently for the last month. He made a beautiful play to set up Jost for a tap-in goal in the second and was generating more chances than he was giving up while he was on the ice.

Samuel Girard (C-) – This is a frustrating one right now. I thought he was great in the third, but that was the first time I’ve felt that way about him in a long time.

Erik Johnson (C) – If he can play as he did in the first for an entire game, he’s a clear cut number one defenseman. But we saw more of the same when Colorado was attempting to mount their comeback, bad reads all over the ice.

Tyson Jost (B+) – Two goals, and he had pretty good jump all night. Jost really needed a game like this. It’s too bad it came in a losing effort.

Alexander Kerfoot (C) – Kerfoot was just kind of a guy out there tonight. Nothing glaring in his own zone, nothing spectacular in the attacking zone. He had one play in particular where I felt the word “shoot” involuntarily coming out of my mouth.

Gabriel Landeskog (C-) –There are nights when I think “wow, Landy really gets his team going when they need it”. Tonight was not one of those nights.

Nathan MacKinnon (B-) – “You know who I thought was dope tonight, MacKinnon. As much as he frustrated me, there were moments. He was entirely responsible for their first goal, drew multiple penalties, he drove his line tonight” – AJ celeb shot on grades.

Patrik Nemeth (D+) – They’re starting to limit his ice time, which is appropriate. Wrapped a guy up behind the net which was the first penalty in the eventual five-on-three situation that cost them a goal.

Matt Nieto (C) – 13 minutes of ice time, and he was just about even from a Corsi standpoint. So… he was there.

Mikko Rantanen (C+) – Was selected for his first all-star appearance today (well deserved), so I’ll be nice.

Carl Soderberg (D+) –Had a shorthanded breakaway he couldn’t do much with; this line was putting good O-zone pressure, but nothing ever felt threatening.

Pavel Francouz (B+) – I asked Jared Bednar if he would consider giving Francouz a start after two really solid outings, he answered with an emphatic “Yes”.

Ryan Graves (B-) – I think this kid has been great since the call-up. He’s making the right decisions with and without the puck.

Sheldon Dries (C) – I like the hustle. Dries is a legit NHL fourth liner in my opinion, but he has to do something to separate himself from the Gabe Bourques of the world.

Logan O’Connor (C) – Six minutes of ice time, not much to say. He had one good PK shift in the first that sticks out to me.