Pat Salvas
Avalanche 1, Islanders 0 (OT/SO)
Game 30 | Monday, Dec. 19 | Ball Arena
Sometimes you get ‘goalied’ and you lose. Rarely do you get ‘goalied’ and win. That’s what happened tonight at Ball Arena as the New York Islanders’ goalie Ilya Sorokin was outstanding. But, at the other end of the ice and in the Colorado Avalanche net was Alexandar Georgiev, who was up to the task for the home team.
A fitting end in what was an entertaining, if not frustratingly physical and defensive battle all night. The Avalanche claimed the extra point with the 1-0 shootout win thanks to the goaltending play of Georgiev and the fantastic move by Evan Rodrigues to net the only tally of the night.
Here is my first shot at player grades… be kind, I’m a generous grader.
FORWARDS
Artturi Lehkonen (B+): Drew a penalty in the second and then hit the post in the slot on the ensuing power play. Was pesky all night, crashing the net (sometimes literally crashing into the net) and was great in possessing the puck for sustained zone time. I thought he was especially strong in the slot.
Mikko Rantanen (A): The best skater on the ice all night for either team. A career-high 10 shots on goal despite not having one in the first period. It felt like he was going to be the player who broke through in the final frame as he had six even-strength shots on goal, but it wasn’t to be. It’s hard to give someone an ‘A’ when being held without a point, but Mikko was all over the place tonight, creating chances for himself and his teammates, while also playing one of the heaviest games I can remember out of him in a long time. His physical play was very noticeable.
Valeri Nichushkin (C): Didn’t really take notice of him much until that one shift mid-way through the third period where he hit the right post and then had that masterful redirect just outside the paint that missed the far post. Had a chance alone in the slot during overtime, but couldn’t get the puck to sit.
Alex Newhook (C): This was the last player whose space I filled in because I don’t remember much of his game tonight. There was one play early on where he lost his man defensively but managed to get back to tie him up and deny the rebound opportunity. There was also a heavy third-period shot on a drop-pass from Rodrigues that I thought might have a chance before Sorokin blockered it away.
Evan Rodrigues (A): I went back and forth a few times on who I thought was the best player in the game for the Avs, but Mikko played a more complete game, drew penalties and was physical. However, ERod was fast. I mean, there were a few times where I thought he was in Nathan MacKinnon/Cale Makar speed territory. He set up the Compher chance in OT that could have easily been the winner. That move in the shootout was disgusting. And what made it more impressive was that it came against Sorokin on a night where the NYI netminder was playing on another planet. New York’s goalie was the star of the game, but he’ll probably look back on this one and only remember the deke that cost his team the extra point. Rodrigues said in the postgame that he was going to use that move unless Sorokin gave him something else to shoot at and boy are Colorado fans glad he didn’t.
Martin Kaut (C): Playing with MacDermid in the first period, was a major part of the Avs’ first good shift of the game. Got in on a solid forecheck and helped create a scoring opportunity down low. Missed an opportunity on the backhand rebound in the dying seconds of the team’s first power play. Got some time with the second power-play unit, but after two good shifts in the first period was not really a factor. If he’s not scoring, Kaut has to make more of an impact in other areas of the game if he wants to stay with the Avs.
Andrew Cogliano (C): Hard to grade considering he didn’t do a lot in this game when he was playing. Harder still to watch that freak play where his feet got tied up and he slammed awkwardly into the boards before making his way down the tunnel to deal with yet another injury for the Avalanche.
J.T. Compher (C-): The best scoring chance of the contest came at the 63:46 mark, but Compher couldn’t get the puck to settle and the game-winner-that-was-not-to-be sailed over the net.
Logan O’Connor (C-): He is good at forechecking. I like that part of his game. I like it more when his forecheck leads to disruption, turnovers, takeaways and scoring chances. That didn’t happen tonight and, therefore, LOC didn’t factor into this one.
Jacob MacDonald (No Grade): It isn’t fair to give Jacob MacDonald a grade when he was asked to play out of position in a make-shift fourth line with no continuity. It’s also not fair to grade him when he got one shift in the first period (0:30) and another in the second (1:06) and I honest to God don’t remember seeing him on the ice for either.
Ben Meyers (C): I thought he looked good in the first period, but as the game wore on a bit, I came back to the same thought: “He holds onto the puck a split second too long every time he has it.” As soon as I thought that, he had the redirect off the post and I remedied my previous opinion with “that wasn’t too long, I guess.” He looked quick, got to loose pucks and was disruptive of Islander breakouts. But the Avalanche didn’t sign him last spring for those things. Meyers has to take advantage of the opportunities he’s getting/creating and finish them.
Kurtis MacDermid (C+): Great first shift back from injury. Threw his weight around with the added bonus of creating a scoring chance with the backhanded wrap-around bid. Took one penalty for a hit away from the puck that set the physical tone early, but not much else. Didn’t see much playing time after that as he only had two shifts and 1:17 of ice time after the first intermission.
DEFENSEMEN
Samuel Girard (B+): Sound positionally in the defensive zone, especially on the far post for a few cross-ice pass attempts from New York. Sound defense is huge in a scoreless game through regulation and overtime and something you need from your defenseman. Sammy G also chipped in at the other end of the rink and tried to end the game with his offense, adding six shots on goal to the team total. Like Ryker said on the broadcast, this was probably his best game since returning from injury.
Cale Makar (B/B+): Had a strong start to this game with some solid plays in the defensive zone, especially two on the first penalty kill of the night. He might lose some points off his final grade for the arrogance shown in telling the ref how to do his job by waving off the penalty in the first period. Makar joined Compher with another late-OT bid to end it, only to be turned aside by New York’s super netminder with five seconds left in the fourth period.
Devon Toews (B): Great job to break up the 2-on-1 rush about eight minutes into the second after Erik Johnson got beat pinching. Opting to stay on his feet, it looked like he was able to get part of the puck with his right skate or leg as he turned around after taking away space from the oncoming Islanders’ forward. I didn’t really like his game to start, but felt like he bounced back and settled in as the night wore on.
Erik Johnson (B): His job is to be physical, play solid defense in his zone and get the puck out. He did all those things tonight. Did New York score with EJ out there? No. Did they have quality chances against him? No. He played his game well tonight.
Brad Hunt (B): Good read out front to break up the Islanders’ second-chance bid around six minutes left in the first. Stayed at the top of the paint and didn’t chase or lose his assignment, allowing him to prevent a probable goal. Nearly scored the first goal of the game early in the third when he was able to get just enough of a saucer pass from Nichushkin after making a surprise jump into the rush. He didn’t play a lot, but when he did it was noticeable.
Andreas Englund (C-): Had an opportunity early in the night to jump up into the play and create a scoring chance. In that rush Englund made a centering feed to… no one. A little patience and a look up might’ve allowed Colorado a bit more time in the offensive zone in the waning minutes of the middle frame. I don’t know what to think about him and his game so far this season, even playing the role of the No. 6 defenseman on a team battling injuries. Is that harsh? I guess.
GOALTENDERS
Alexandar Georgiev (A): He wasn’t the best goalie in this game, but he was the winning goalie in this game. That’s saying something because this was one of his best performances of the season. I thought he looked sound positionally, he tracked the puck well and even that one save he made where he had to throw his arm and blocker at it he never looked flustered or out of place. I also loved his play in the shootout as he waited out Mathew Barzal. That has to be such a tough play for a goalie to not attempt the poke, pull himself out of position and open up the net to a player like Barzal. A great night for the Avs’ starting netminder.
Pavel Francouz (No Grade): Didn’t play, but saw on Twitter that he was caught singing on the videoboard. Franky is such a sweetheart.
BERNIE
Bernie (A+): He’s such a good boy!