Avalanche Grades in loss to Washington (+)

Can’t win ’em all

Jack Johnson : Rough, I mean ROUGH game for Johnson. The good thing is that this was an off game and not the norm for him. Turnover led to game-winning goal for Caps in third.

Bo Byram : He’s picking up speed as the season finishes up. He was four assists in six games. He’s playing strong defensively and controlling the puck.

Cale Makar : B – The new franchise leader for points by a defenseman in a season. I wish he would stay out of the box but that was a soft call in his defense. Called for soft interference call on his own power play. Six shot attempts overall.

Valeri Nichushkin : A – Big guy with a big shot. Loved how he used the defenseman as a screen to get the shot off. Four shots on net and 22 minutes played. 

Nicolas Aube-Kubel : B – He’s got five points in his last six games. He’s been playing really well as of late. Had a semi-breakaway but missed.

Alex Newhook : C – Hard to believe but he had zero shots on net. It was one of those games where he seemed to be playing well, just nothing to show for it.

Logan O’Connor : C – Lost some puck battles. One of those nights.

Nathan MacKinnon : C – Looked like he was clenching his stick a little too tight tonight. He had two shots on net and seven shots blocked. 

J.T. Compher : C – He led the team in faceoff percentage (64%) but that was really about it.

Josh Manson : B- – It was a scary moment when he went down but luckily he was able to finish the game. With Devon Toews nursing some injuries, the team really needs everyone. He led the team with five hits. 

Darren Helm : C- – Four hits and a minus one. Hardly noticed him out there.

Sam Girard : B – With Toews getting some much-needed rest, he saw his ice time jump to over 23 minutes. 

Kurtis MacDermid : C- –  Give me Tom Wilson vs. Kurtis MacDermid ALL DAY. 10 minutes played and a plus one.

Ben Meyers : C- – Little under 7 minutes played with a shot on net. The team played down most of the game and it was hard to get going.

Artturi Lehkonen : B+ – Hard, gritty work pays off. Huge goal to tie the game. He led the team with five shots on net. 

Nico Sturm : B – Loved the play behind the net in the offensive zone. He was patient and set the pass up perfectly. 

Andre Burakovsky : C – 14 minutes played and a couple of shots on net. Not a great night and not a horrible night. 

Mikko Rantanen : C+ –  Similar to MacKinnon, off the mark tonight. He had two shots on net and three missed. 

Darcy Kuemper : B – This was a hard one. It didn’t seem like any of those goals were on him and turnover in the Avs own zone led to the goals. He made some key saves and kept the team in it late into the third.