DENVER – At times the offense tried to do too much and the defense too little in a flat Colorado Avalanche loss to the Vegas Golden Knights.

Alex Tuch burned Colorado twice, directly and by proxy, as Vegas denied what Avalanche forward Matt Calvert called a chance to “make a statement” in a 3-0 victory Monday night at Ball Arena.

“(Goalie Marc-Andre) Fleury was good, but that wasn’t our best effort,” Calvert said. “For whatever reason, we didn’t have our legs and weren’t putting the work in. It cost us in the end.”

It was the finale of four straight games against Vegas, and the only one that wasn’t decided by a goal. Each team won twice.

The Avalanche came back after an eight-hour first-period break Saturday, a postponement caused by sunlight melting the ice, and beat the Golden Knights 3-2 in an outdoor game next to Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nev.

The team wasn’t as sharp in its return home. Fleury made several big saves, as he has throughout the series and season, and Vegas collected rebounds in front of him.

“We overpassed a little bit. We took ourselves out of scoring areas,” coach Jared Bednar said. “I give Vegas credit though, they had good sticks coming back into the zone. They were taking away lanes.

“The energy level wasn’t where it needed to be, for a game like that against a real hungry Vegas team.”

All three goals came in the second period. Tuch blazed a trail between Ryan Graves and Tyson Jost and came in alone during a power play, beating Philipp Grubauer glove side.

“I did not love us defensively. I think they won the bulk of the races and the bulk of the battles, which led to their chances,” Bednar said.

“The offensive side of it wasn’t clean either, but I think we had lots of chances.”

Bo Byram is still waiting on his first NHL goal for, but he scored one against Monday. A rebound went off Grubauer and then hit Byram’s skate. The rookie lunged after it but it was too late. That goal was credited to Tuch as well.

It was a rough night for Byram and Cale Makar. The offensively inclined defensemen were on the ice for both even-strength goals.

“It was just one of those games I just wasn’t feeling it out there,” Makar said. “I have to find a way.”

On the last goal, William Karlsson found Jonathan Marchessault between the circles. Marchessault got it off his stick quickly and went five-hole on Grubauer.

“Not helping Gruby enough because he’s been so good for us,” Calvert said.

Grubauer (25 saves) allowed more than two goals for the first time since Jan 26. It’s happened three times through 13 starts.

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