Adrian Dater
February 11, 2022
When the lightning strikes
Zip gun Johnny’s finger is itchin’
The lid’s gonna blow up in hell’s kitchen
It’s an eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
It’s so ruthless when they fight
Zip gun Johnny’s finger is itchin’
The lid’s gonna blow up in hell’s kitchen
It’s an eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth
It’s so ruthless when they fight
When the lightning strikes
Great win for the Avs over the Lightning tonight. Let’s do some of those grades:
Jack Johnson: (C ) – Tough night for JJ, though he battled as always. Caught trailing the play badly on first Lightning goal. I liked how he just put it behind him, though, and kept fighting. Actually, I’m already regretting this grade. He was probably better than that.
Erik Johnson: (B-) – Caught flat-footed at blue line on Tampa’s second goal, but a pretty good night otherwise. People haven’t given him enough credit this season for all the hits (he’s the team leader) and blocked shots this season.
Gabe Landeskog: (A)- Loved his game tonight. Classic tip for Avs’ first goal, his 20th of the season and the NINTH time he’s achieved that number in his career. Loved the way he stuck up for Mikko Rantanen in the the third period, even after fellow Swede Victor Hedman roughed him up some.
Mikko Rantanen: (B+) – Strong game, gave Lightning D a lot of problems down low. He had a beautiful backhand spin-o-rama shot in the third that, while it didn’t score, was a treat to watch.
Valeri Nichushkin: (A) – Scored the game-winner, in the third. Playing terrific two-way hockey this season. It was his 13th goal of the season, matching his uniform number.
Alex Newhook: (B) – He had a breakaway in the game, but hit the crossbar. I liked his energy tonight.
Nazem Kadri: (A) – Great, great pass to Devon Toews for an Avs’ goal. Took all the big faceoffs in the end, and won a key one with 1:49 left. Another superb game.
Andre Burakovsky: (B) – He got an assist tonight and played with the puck a lot. Goal scoring has been snakebit of late, but it felt like he started to come alive a bit more tonight.
Logan O’Connor: (B) – Played nearly 14 pretty hard minutes. Average puck-possession numbers, but overall a nice third-liner kind of game.
Dylan Sikura: (C+) – Skated hard, but didn’t play much. Overall, though, he’s done a nice job since getting a chance from Loveland.
Tyson Jost: (C+) – Played a little more than 11 minutes. Average puck-possession numbers. Had one very nice move in the second period off the rush.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel: (B-) – Only played seven minutes, but had a couple of hard hits and did a nice job as a fourth-line checker.
Darren Helm (B-) – A nice enough game for a guy who hadn’t played in a while. Didn’t play with the puck much, but overall acquitted himself well.
J.T. Compher: (C-) – Not much to talk about tonight. Negative puck-possession numbers and only one shot on net in nearly 16 minutes, a -1.
Cale Makar: (A) – Everybody held their breath when he came up looking hurt following a tangle with Steven Stamkos behind the net. But he shook it off and played the rest of the the game with seemingly no ill effects. His Corsi was an amazing 35-13.
Devon Toews: (X) – A rare X grade from me here, for a performance so good it was almost obscene. A goal, assist and a +3 in nearly 26 minutes. The guy is a total stud. Joe Sakic absolutely swindled the Islanders in getting him.
Sam Girard: (B) – Not at a bad night at all for La Tornade. A little sketchy at times in the third, but overall he was fine.
Ryan Murray: (C) – An average night for a veteran D-man. A couple of nice plays, a couple of not-so-great plays. Didn’t play a ton.
Darcy Kuemper: (A) – He looked and played like a real No. 1 goalie tonight, particularly in the third. He was the best goalie in the hockey game, no question about it.