For whatever reason, the Colorado Avalanche did not have "it" on Thursday night.
And that cost the Avs in a 4-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues, who evened the second round Stanley Cup playoff series at one game each.
The Avs did not work hard enough, they were not crisp and they did not execute to the level they are capable of.
After a scoreless first period, St. Louis scored the first two goals of the game and led 2-0 on goals by Jordan Kyrou and David Perron. Perron's goal came on a 5-on-3 power play.
The Avalanche got to within 2-1 on Gabe Landeskog's power play goal at 1:48 of the second period. But Perron scored again on a breakaway to make it 3-1 at 10:31. Brandon Saad added an empty net goal with under two minutes remaining.
With the road win, St. Louis evens the series heading back to home ice.
MORE ON THE AVS LOSS HERE
Postgame comments from Avs forwards Nathan MacKinnon (first to speak) and Mikko Rantanen.
Postgame comments from Avs head coach Jared Bednar.
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