Colorado Avalanche VS Winnipeg Jets – Player Grades

Nathan MacKinnon. A-. Solid overall game. His line was clicking as usual. His best play of the night was when he chipped the puck passed Morrissey, forcing him to take an interference penalty because of his speed. He hit the the post AGAIN tonight. The goals will start to come for him. He’s playing too good for them not to.. .

B-. He almost converted on a feed from Barrie. Otherwise quiet night for him. Didn’t really notice him good or bad.. . . Joe Colborne

. . Nikita Zadorov. A-. He made a GORGEOUS rush on the Avs second penalty kill. Its like the Jets saw him coming, but never registered how fast he was going. That led to a partial 3-1 and Duchene ended up getting two shots. He did take a bad cross checking penalty in the 3rd, but otherwise a great game. Its gonna be exciting when he starts adding to the offense on a more consistent basis.

A. Johnson is really looking like a true #1 defenseman right now. His skating is so smooth. I do wish he would use his slapshot more on the powerplay. Its powerful and he has a knack for getting it on net.. . . Erik Johnson

C. Another very up and down game for Barrie. He made a couple of bad plays at even strength, but where he’s really struggling right now is on the powerplay. He just cannot get shots on net. They’re either way off target or get blocked causing a rush towards the Avs end. His entries have also been very sub-par. He made a brutal drop pass to MacKinnon on the last powerplay of the night which effectively killed it off for the Jets. He did make a great pass to Bourque for the easy tap in goal though. Hopefully we start to see more good than bad from Barrie.. . . Tyson Barrie

Held his in the fight against Chris Thorburn. Patted each other on the back after the fight. Took a highsticking penalty in the third which wasn’t great, but it happens. He’s just a guy right now.. . . Cody McLeod. C

Mikko Rantanen. A. Finally the kid gets his first NHL goal and it wasn’t from a lack of trying. Beautiful bar-down shot on the powerplay. He also drew a penalty with some fancy skating. He’s a lot of fun to watch.. .

He and Beauchemin were pretty bad on the first penalty kill. Tyutin in particular was extremely scrambly. Varly had to make some really good saves. He did calm down after that and otherwise looked solid for the remainder of the game.. . . Fedor Tyutin. B-

MacKinnon made a pass that was just a bit too hard for him, which otherwise would have been a sure goal (and a highlight reel one at that). He was good until Trouba hit him in the face and he did not return to the game citing a head injury. Of course it was a non-call on the ice. I’m expecting DOPS will at least take a look at the play.. . . Matt Duchene. B

. . Eric Gelinas. B. He took a needless interference penalty, but he was otherwise played well.

I almost shouted for joy when he finally held the blueline. Doing that directly led to an Avalanche powerplay. Other than a very scrambly first penalty kill, Beauch looked great tonight. Far and away his best game of the season.. . . François Beauchemin. A-

B. Although he did technically have 2 goals, I still wasn’t thrilled with his game. There was a moment where he went to take a hit instead of going for the puck which would have been an easy defensive zone clear. His Hockey IQ also seems to be quite poor. Passing and cycling skills are lacking. I would really like to see what Colborne could do in that spot. There’s no reason he couldn’t have got both of those goals.<p class=. . . Rene Bourque

B+. I would like him to start adding on the offense, but he looked good tonight. Made several good defensive and passing plays. He was absolutely dominant in possession posting a CF% 90%. . . Mikhail Grigorenko

C. Soderberg started off the game really well, but fell off a bit as the game progressed. That being said he looked significantly better than he has, but the Avs need more from him still. He failed to clear the zone and it led to goal.. . . Carl Soderberg

B+. I thought Iginla looked fantastic. His puck handling has always bugged me, but he looked very much in control. Made some good passes even. If this is what third line Iggy looks like, then please keep him there.. . . Jarome Iginla

. . Semyon Varlamov. B. He looked pretty shaky to start the game. He gave up some rebounds on shots he really shouldn’t have, he also got beat by a shot early, but the post saved him. He seemed to find his game after that though. He didn’t have a big workload, but was there when he needed to be. The highlight of the night was obviously stopping the breakaway in OT. Hopefully that gives him some confidence.

B. I only really noticed him once which was late in the game he made a good rush and got some extended zone time in the Jets end. While there’s no question he’s overpaid for what he is, I feel like he’s really undervalued by Avs fans.. . . John Mitchell

Good game, abeit a little quiet. The most memorable moment came on the penalty kill where he and Soderberg cause their usual chaos.. . . Gabriel Landeskog. B

B-. Honestly I didn’t notice him all night other than once. He makes these occasional skill plays that make you go “woah was that Martinsen?”. . . Andreas Martinsen