MacKinnon: Avalanche were 'really bad' in Game 2 loss
Nathan MacKinnon was the first to admit his Colorado Avalanche put forth a lackluster effort in their defeat at the hands of the St. Louis Blues on Thursday night.
The Avalanche superstar acknowledged how poorly his club played in a 4-1 loss that tied the best-of-seven second-round series 1-1.
"We were really bad tonight," he said postgame, according to The Athletic's Peter Baugh. "(In) years past, we might dwell on it and get down on ourselves and each other. But we've just got to pick each other up and move on."
MacKinnon also lamented the opportunity the Avalanche had after captain Gabriel Landeskog scored on the power play to cut the Blues' lead to 2-1 early in the third period.
"Everyone was off tonight," MacKinnon said. "Really off. We still had a chance to tie it up."
Blues forward David Perron notched his second goal of the game midway through the final frame to make it 3-1, and Brandon Saad added an empty-netter to seal St. Louis' victory.
Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin was whistled for a questionable goaltender interference penalty late in the second period, but MacKinnon declined to blame the officiating afterward.
"It was on us for sure. Definitely not on the refs," he said.
The Avalanche lost home-ice advantage with the defeat. Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m. ET in St. Louis.