Avs Grades In Game 3 Win Over Preds (+)

“I’ve been chasin’ the big wheels all over Nashville / Waitin’ for my big break to come / Livin’ on ketchup soup, homemade crackers and Kool-Aid / I’ll be a star tomorrow, but today I’m a Nashville bum.”

Grades for Game 3:

Val Nichushkin : B+ – “Mr. Do It All” added a goal today and four shots on net. Doesn’t matter if it’s an empty-netter or not, he always seems to be in the right spot.

Nicolas Aube-Kubel : C+ – He was tied for third on the team with hits (5). The Avs have a stranglehold on the series and I have a feeling it’s about to get a lot chippier. So, keep NAK in the lineup, please.

Logan O’Connor : C+ – A quieter night compared to Thursday. His line is going to be tested as the games get more physical. He was absolutely trucked in this game on a penalized hit by Filip Forsberg, but he shook it off just fine. Forsberg (no relation to Peter that’s for sure, as evidenced by his awful play in this series) cost his team big there.

Nathan MacKinnon : A+ – He looks unstoppable out there. He continues to play his best hockey and score the goals the team needs him to.

J.T. Compher : C+ – Not much on the stat sheet but he’s not making mistakes and doing his job.

Darren Helm : B+ – Led the team with seven hits and was 64% in the faceoff dot. I’ll take it!

Artturi Lehkonen : B+ – He now has two goals in the series and is scoring in different ways. The trade acquisitions are showing up big in the playoffs so far. Was involved in another goalie interference review. This time it went his way, much to the chagrin of TNT “rules/referee expert” Don Koharski, who said he would be “shocked” if the goal weren’t overturned. 

Consider himself shocked, then. It was the right ruling.

Nico Sturm : C+ – He had a couple of shots on goal and a few hits. Nothing fancy but nothing horrible. The roles flipped this game with the Avs going 4 for 5 on the power play and the penalty kill giving up two.

Nazem Kadri : A+ – I was waiting for Kadri to break out this series and today was it. Even if the goal passed it right to him. You gotta take what the opposing team gives ya. Literally.

Gabe Landeskog : X – A rare X grade, for a performance so good it was bordering on obscene. Landeskog has been impactful this series but similar to Kadri, he really broke out tonight. Two goals, two assists and six shots on net. Time to close this series out.

Andre Burakovsky : C+ – He wasn’t super noticeable out there, but sometimes that’s ok. Get the W and get out. He’s playing better defensively than he has in a while, at least.

Mikko Rantanen : B+ – Couple of assists today for “The Moose” today and looked great on the power play. Only a matter of time before his slapper from the dot finds the back of the net.

Bowen Byram : C+ – He seems to be getting comfortable with playoff hockey and he’s playing smart. That said, he had a couple Grade A chances that he couldn’t put in the back of the net.

Erik Johnson : B – I’ve been really impressed with his play this series so far. He added an assist, six hits and a little over 2 minutes on the penalty kill.

Devon Toews : A+ – Glad the see the regular season is carrying over into the postseason. He had five shots on net, a goal, an assist and time on the PK and PP.

Cale Makar : A+ – Three assists in another stellar performance bringing his point total to seven while casually leading the team in ice time. Geesh.

Josh Manson : B+ – He’s also been playing well the last three games showing why GM Joe Sakic brought him on. He played a little over 19 minutes and had a helper.

Sam Girard : A – This was a big game for him. I was wondering how he was holding up against a big Nashville team but he seems to be getting better as the series goes on. He had five blocks and 21 minutes played today.

Darcy Kuemper : NA – That was a tough injury to watch. Jared Bednar said postgame he was able to see. Hopefully he is ok. Sounds like he is.

Pavel Francouz : B – He looked a little out of position early on and the Preds got a couple on him. When he settled down and the Avs got a few at the other end, he looked better.