DENVER — Things went from bad to worse on Saturday.

The problems that have been hurting the Avalanche reared their ugly head in full form. The team was able to mask many of these issues for weeks, but it caught up to them. Colorado was a shadow of the team it was two nights prior when it was outplayed in every aspect of an embarrassing 8-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues.

Brayden Schenn and Pavel Buchnevich both had hat tricks for the Blues. St. Louis also had two power-play goals and two-shorthanded goals. They scored four times in the final period of a game they already led by three goals.

It was a mess.

“In professional sports, there’s winning and then there’s misery,” Jared Bednar said following Sunday’s practice. “There’s not a bunch of in-between, especially when it kind of goes like that. So you know, there’s lots of anger, frustration. You name it, we’re feeling it.”

The Avs trailed 3-0 at the first intermission after giving up two goals in the final 67 seconds. It’s one of many issues that have haunted this team since its strong start. They’re letting games get out of hand quickly, and continue to give up goals in bunches. In their first three losses — all shutouts — at the hands of the Penguins, Sabres and Golden Knights, Colorado would consistently give up goals in bunches to let the game slip away. They were blown out 7-0 by the defending Stanley Cup champs despite trailing just 2-0 at the midway point.

And it was more of that against St. Louis. The early goal that made it 1-0 wasn’t a backbreaker. Brayden Schenn got on the boards early for the Blues, but Colorado pushed back and generated quite a bit of offense. The two goals later in the period, including a tally with just 1.1 seconds remaining, were where things went completely off the rails. And then those same issues were at the forefront of the third period that sent Jared Bednar into a livid post-game press conference.

“First three goals, they’re all routine coverage for me,” Bednar said Saturday night. “Soft and loose and we gave them the opportunity thinking our goalie was gonna save it, he didn’t, it’s in the back of our net. It’s 3-0.”

We all had the feeling that Sunday’s practice would be a must-see. But it ended up being shifted to an optional skate shortly before it began.

“A lot of me would have loved to work our guys to death today. But we didn’t have enough guys to practice actually,” Bednar said. “We got some guys dinged up last night. Lots of guys getting treatment. We gotta play tomorrow. So we felt like we covered what we needed to cover in the meeting. I think we got to do some soul-searching as individuals and as a group.”

Among the reasons why their offense is struggling, UFA signing Tomas Tatar has yet to score. He’s not the only new addidition without a goal, but he has just five shots in 12 games. Without Artturi Lehkonen, who will miss ‘weeks’ with an injury suffered on Thursday, or Andrew Cogliano (day-to-day), Tatar’s lack of production hurts the Avalanche now more than it did before. Their depth is being tested and he’s struggling to help mitigate those losses.

Tatar also took a late second-period penalty deep in the offensive zone, which led to the first of two Blues power-play goals early in the third.

Arguably the biggest new addition, second-line center Ryan Johansen hasn’t given the Avalanche much to be excited for at 5 on 5. He has five goals, of which three were scored on the power play. He also has an empty netter and his lone assist was also on the man advantage. Through 12 games, Johansen’s lone 5-on-5 point is the goal he had against the Devils earlier this week.

It’s not enough.

The team also lacks depth at center. And because of that, Ross Colton, who had a lot of success on the wing in Tampa Bay, is stuck riding it out as a third-line center. Colton told me the transition to being a full-time center has been tough, but he’s working through it and doing his best to work on his defensive game and responsibilities.

Bednar was open about wanting to shift Colton to the wing but just doesn’t have the options at center to do so.

“I’ve thought about it but we don’t have any other centers. So yeah, I’ve thought about it,” Bednar told me. “Haven’t done it because of lack of other options. I think at this point, this is our team. This is where we’re penciled for now. And I do feel like we have the ability to work through it the way we are set.”

Colorado’s offensive issues aren’t nearly as bad as their struggles to keep the puck out of their own goal. Through the first four games of the season, the Avs had conceded just four goals. But in the nine games since, they’ve allowed 39 goals. In eight of those games, the opposition has scored at least three times.

Starting goalie Alexandar Georgiev has been in the net for most of those goals. After his strong four-game start, Georgiev has given up 31 goals in seven games (3-4-0) and has a brutal .842 save percentage.

“We’re getting outplayed. Goaltender is getting outplayed by their goaltender. Forwards are getting outplayed by their forwards. D are getting outplayed by their D,” Bednar said following the loss.