Kelsey Hammond
Eight home wins in a row now for the Colorado Avalanche. Let’s do some player grades:
Jack Johnson: C – He drew a penalty and had a penalty. Still looks extra tough after taking a puck to the face last game.
Erik Johnson: B – He had a couple of big slappers from the point on the power play. He couldn’t find the net but he brings a different element on the power play. He finished the game with three shots on net.
Cale Makar: A – Mr. Do-It-All scored his career-high,13th goal of the season on the power play in the first period. He also played over 25 minutes. Just another day at the office.
Mikhail Maltsev: C – Didn’t really notice him tonight. Not good but not bad either. He played 7 minutes and had a shot on net.
Valeri Nichushkin: A – Just a beast in front of the net as he tapped in his 8th goal of the season and then icing the game with a great individual effort to seal the win when it almost got away, with 30 seconds left.
Nicolas Aube -Kubel: C – Had a breakaway midway through the first and couldn’t capitalize. Other than that, nothing crazy.
Tyson Jost: C –He came out in the first with two shots on net and had some pep in his step but he simmered down the rest of the game.
Alex Newhook: B – He seems to be playing with confidence and showed great patience with the puck.
Justin Barron: B- – He survived his first NHL game. He was a plus one and had 9 minutes on the ice.
Logan O’Connor: C – Not impactful tonight. Only one shot on net.
Nathan MacKinnon: A – As usual, he was flying around. He had a beautiful pass to Mikko across the crease for the first goal of the game and another helper on Makar’s goal.
J.T. Compher: A –Worked hard on the power play and in the corners. He also added an assist on Nichushkin’s goal. Got screwed out of a goal at the end because of a phantom goalie-interference challenge.
Darren Helm: C- Really quiet game.
Sam Girard: B- -He didn’t show up on the scorecard but he had a solid game.
Kurtis MacDermid: B – The big guy was on the blueline tonight and got the crowd ROCKING with a second-period fight against Ryan Reaves. Gotta love it.
Nazem Kadri: A – He had a few helpers tonight, bringing his total assists to 26.
Andre Burakovsky: B – Staying hot! He’s playing extremely well on the first line with MacKinnon and Rantanen.
Mikko Rantanen: A – Got team on the board with his 13th goal of the season. He finished the game with an assist and 3 shots on net.
Darcy Kuemper: B – On the first goal, there wasn’t much he could do. The second goal, he gave up a rebound and the Rangers were there to punch it in. Gotta hold on to those. Made a big save on Chris Krieder at the end to preserve the win, though.