Colorado Avalanche Grades In Loss To Devils

NEWARK, N.J. – Can’t win ’em all. A 1-0 loss Colorado Avalanche to the Devils. The grades:

Artturi Lehkonen (C) – He’s gone seven straight games without a goal, since getting two on opening night. He’s got to get it going again, because the Avalanche need goals.

Alex Newhook (D-) – Bad game. Lost seven of eight faceoffs, no shots on net. No doubt, he’s feeling the pressure right now. He’s got to just work himself out of it.

Andrew Cogliano (C) – Skated hard, as always, but not much offensively and he was on the ice for the PP goal against.

Bo Byram (C+) – Was in the penalty box when the only goal of the game was scored. Played pretty well otherwise, I thought though.

Cale Makar (C) – Had another negative night in Corsi (11-17). Hit the crossbar with a shot in first period. Could have been a different game if that goes in.

Devon Toews (C+) – His Corsi was only 12-21. No shots on net. A bit of an off night for him.

Dryden Hunt (D) – I truly haven’t noticed him one time since he’s been on the team. Not a good thing.

Erik Johnson (B) – I thought EJ battled hard and did fine tonight.

Evan Rodrigues (B-) – That’s probably a generous grade, but I thought he was pretty active out there. He came close a couple times to scoring.

J.T. Compher (B-) – One of the few Avalanche players with a positive Corsi number. He had a couple of real good scoring chances too. Lost a key faceoff in final minute.

Jacob MacDonald (C) – Only played 3:21.

Josh Manson (C) – Took a penalty in the game, only played 12:21.

Logan O’Connor (B-) – He had some good energy tonight and was tough to play against.

Martin Kaut (D) – Only played 7:17. Not much, for a guy who started the game on the second line. How long is his leash?

Mikhail Maltsev (D) – Only played 7:01. Two Corsi events for, eight against. Won 2-of-4 faceoffs at least.

Mikko Rantanen (D) – Nine Corsi for, 23 against. One shot on goal in more than 24 minutes. A bit too fancy on the power play.

Nathan MacKinnon (B) – Had seven shots on goal and came close to scoring a couple times. He wasn’t the problem tonight.

Sam Girard (C-) – Made a bad play with the puck before Bo Byram’s penalty. That was a turning point in the game.

Pavel Francouz – (B+) – Can’t blame him for the loss. Jack Hughes’ shot that beat him was a good shot.