Game 72 Grades: Stole another one

Nicolas Aube-Kubel – D

I don’t really have much on NAK tonight. It was a quiet night but when you spend the entire game in your own zone defending, it’s tough to make too much of a mark, I suppose.

Andre Burakovsky – C

I really liked Burakovsky last night but tonight was really all the bad stuff in his game that I’m not a fan of coming out to play. It just wasn’t a good night for him as he didn’t do anything with the puck and eventually got moved off the top line to try to inject some life into it.

Bowen Byram – B

For my money, his best game since returning. He was competitive, he was active offensively and he was effective in his own zone. He smoked a shot off the post in the first period. We saw flashes of his ability all throughout the ice in this game.

Andrew Cogliano – B+

I thought he was key in helping build Colorado’s comeback in the third period. With the top guys showing zero life, Cogliano’s hard work helped them sink their teeth into some offensive possessions and build towards getting them to overtime. His energy was an asset.

J.T. Compher – C

I don’t think he was nearly as impactful last night but he held his own on the shot metrics side, which not everyone did. It was a quiet night overall.

Sam Girard – C+

It was his first game back, so I’m giving some leeway to his early play, which I thought looked very rusty and lacking. His legs got going more as the game went on and it showed that he wasn’t the one who played last night. It got better as the game went on. Made a great pass to Newhook on the late power play that was a legit scoring chance.

Darren Helm – B

Really didn’t like his game early on but I thought he came on towards the end. Similar to Cogliano, his energy really got things going late for Colorado. Strung together meaningful shifts when the Avs needed. Great work on the PK in overtime.

Jack Johnson – B-

I had no issues here with Johnson’s game. I thought he held his own defensively and made smart decisions when he had the puck. Effective, efficient night. I would take this game from him all the time.

Darcy Kuemper – A+

He was great again. He was helped out by Jesse Puljujarvi not wanting to shoot pucks into the open part of the net but Kuemper got across and made him make the play. Kuemper won that battle twice. His play in overtime and the shootout was immaculate. He is The Kuemperor.

Artturi Lehkonen – B-

Quiet night for Lehkonen who wasn’t involved in much offense but his defense was great and what happened against with him on the ice was limited. There’s a reason he was considered Nichushkin-lite when the Avs acquired him.

Nathan MacKinnon – B+

Sigh. I had this as a lower grade, then he tied the game up with a nice play and then took a weak penalty in overtime but scored the only goal in the shootout. There were some obvious problems but in the end, his team is sitting with two points in the standings largely because of what he actually got done in this game.

Cale Makar – C+

Drilled the post early in the game and then sort of fell away offensively after that. He didn’t drive play the way he normally does and some of his defense left a lot to be desired. It was an incomplete game, but he was still a positive difference-maker out there.

Josh Manson – C

There were some high-risk reads in the offensive zone again and some of them worked out, some did not. The first one that did not work led to Puljujarvi’s first chance on a two-on-one in the first period. Foegele out-positioned him in the battle in front of the net for the only Oilers goal. PK work in OT might have been his best moment as an Av to date.

Alex Newhook – D

Very quiet night for Newhook. Didn’t think he had the same jump or impact as last night (even ignoring the obvious lack of production). One of his worst nights in a while.

Valeri Nichushkin – B

He helped spark MacKinnon’s line in the third period. His aggression all over the ice really kickstarted Colorado’s stars when they were stuck in the mud.

Logan O’Connor – B

Loved his game tonight. He didn’t make many plays with the puck but made so many smart decisions and attacked relentlessly on offense. It didn’t lead to anything particularly dangerous, but O’Connor was part of the trio that helped get Colorado moving in the right direction.

Mikko Rantanen – C

Frustrating, lazy hockey again from Rantanen not that far removed from him freely imposing his will during the home-and-home against the Penguins. He’s clearly not taking some of these games very seriously and this was one of them. The leads the Avs have out west, I understand senioritis is probably here until the final week of the season, but Rantanen was tough to watch tonight.

Nico Sturm – D

His lack of offensive upside reminds me a ton of Dominic Toninato. He’s a high-effort guy who takes care of his own end against limited competition. Injuries have forced him to play up and it shows he isn’t built for that.

Devon Toews – B

Didn’t like his first half of the game but I thought he got better and better as the night went on. Really liked his third period. His work head-to-head against McDavid was impressive. Some small things between those two in this game where Toews made the better play and shut it down.