Avs Grades in Loss to the Devils (+)

I’ll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul
‘Cause I think I’m better than you

Jack Johnson: B – Odd night for everyone as the team came out sharp in the first period and fell flat in the second. The team just couldn’t stay out of the box in the second period, including Johnson.

Erik Johnson: C – Better night compared to last night but seems to be struggling with his game in general. 13 minutes played and no shots. 

Devon Toews: B – 7th on the team in points with 45. The whole team lacked urgency tonight and they end the end paid for it. It certainly wasn’t Toews best game.

Cale Makar: B+ – 13 straight games with an assist, which now leads the franchise. I’m starting to run out of things to say about him. Another multi point night.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel : D – Another quiet game. It’s becoming the norm for him. 

Tyson Jost: D – Like the rest of the team, his lined looked good in the first but their play really dropped off in the second and third. 8 minutes played and one shot. Seems like this could be it for him, with the trade deadline coming.

Alex Newhook: C- – He had a couple of shots but that was really it. Almost 15 minutes played. In a slump.

Logan O’Connor: C- – He had a couple of quick shifts of skating hard and fast but it might have emptied his tank early on. What happened to his offense? If found, please call Jared Bednar.

Ryan Murray: C – Led the Avs with three shots on net at the end of the second period. Kinda sums up how this game went. 

Nathan MacKinnon: B – You know you’re playing hot when you can hit the puck like a baseball and it still goes in. Back to back multi point nights, but tried to do too much by himself at the end.

J.T. Compher: D – One shot on net and couldn’t get anything going. The Devils were 2-for-4 on the power play tonight and his unit couldn’t clear the puck.

Darren Helm: C – He just missed Toews on a short-handed attempt and it was refreshing to see some sort of pressure on the penalty kill. 

Sam Girard: D – He’s playing “small” recently. He just seems to be getting pushed off the puck lately. and I didn’t like the play on Smith’s goal either. 

Nazem Kadri: C- – Back-to-back games in the NHL are no joke. Could this be the Avs kryptonite? Kadri had no shots on net and around 50% on faceoffs. Everybody plays the same schedule though. Everybody’s a bit tired. No excuses.

Gabe Landeskog: C – He had some rough plays in the defensive zone and finished a minus two tonight. 

Andre Burakovsky: C – He had a couple of nice passes and Bednar shifted him to the second line with Nichushkin and Kadri for the third period. One shot and 15 minutes played.

Mikko Rantanen: C+ – Back on the scoresheet with his first-period goal but more importantly, the power play went 2/2 in the first period. From there Rantanen took a penalty and finished a minus two. 

Darcy Kuemper: C- Not quite the bounce-back game he was looking forward to. He definitely got peppered with 43 shots and the team collapsed in front of him, but again when the team needed that big save, and they didn’t get it.