For as long as I cover this fine game, I’ll never, ever forget the words of the Avalanche’s first coach, Marc Crawford, during that unforgettable 1995-96 season.

“Your best players have to be your best players,” Crow often said.

So simple, eh? Hockey is an incredibly complex game I think, with so many nuances. And yet, it always comes down to the same thing.

Your best players have to be your best players. If you want to win consistently anyway.

The Avalanche’s best players definitely were not their best players on Saturday at the Pepsi Center, aka The House of Blues.

Nathan MacKinnon, Gabe Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen: A combined minus-6 in a 3-0 loss. While MacKinnon and Landeskog at least looked engaged and competent for parts of the game (they had four shots on goal each), it was Rantanen who just didn’t have it in this one. And, he hasn’t had it for a while now.

If there is one player who probably deserves some critical scrutiny right now for this continued freefall by the team, it’s No. 96. He looked slow, sloppy and just not very engaged in his 19 minutes and nine seconds of ice time. He had one shot on goal. He had a clean breakaway in the first period that could have given his team a much-needed lead at home (it seems like they’re playing from behind at home now) and he put a shot about four feet too high over the net.

I asked Jared Bednar after the game about Rantanen. I asked him if maybe he’s tired or worn down or something.

“I don’t know, that’s a better question for Mikko,” Bednar said.

Maybe Monday, when the Avs are next on the ice. Something is off with Rantanen, that’s for sure. He’s gone six straight games without a goal (just one assist) and three points overall in the last 10 games. After that monster first half of his, when he was the NHL scoring leader, it’s just all tailed off of late for the big Finn. Everybody was speculating he might have put himself in the $10 million range for that next contract of his, which will start next season. He might have cost himself a million or two or three now, if this keeps up the rest of the way.

Rantanen is not an excuse-maker, at least. He talked after the game (you can’t say that about everyone on this team) and just said he and the team need to be better, starting with the next game.

Rantanen’s play at even strength hasn’t been great lately, but the real problems have been on the power play. The Avs are now 0-23 on the power play in the last eight games. They haven’t scored a power-play goal since that loss in Minnesota right before the all-star break. Rantanen isn’t controlling the puck as much along the half-boards (and that’s not all his fault, as others aren’t possessing it enough either, to get things set up) and he’s not getting as many scoring chances as he was in the first half. When he is getting them, he’s missing the net too often.

Away from the puck, defensively, it hasn’t been great either. On the winning goal of this one, scored by Vladimir Tarasenko, Rantanen was part of a group that was drifting over too far to one side. Rantanen was up high in the zone, but was kind of caught in no man’s land when Ryan O’Reilly zipped a pass between him and Landeskog to a wide-open Tarasenko on the right side. Landeskog was probably more at fault than Rantanen on that play, but the point is, Rants didn’t have enough defensive hockey sense to help stop that play when everybody could see Tarasenko was wide open.

There are 25 games left in the regular season. The Avs are on the outside looking in with the Western playoff picture, and Saturday they were pushed back a few more feet from the top eight group. The trade deadline is nine days away, and unless they get two or three wins in a row in that time, Joe Sakic is going to sell off as much as he can and start looking toward next season. At least, that’s my opinion.

Guys like Rantanen, who isn’t going anywhere no matter what happens, can help keep that from happening. But like Crawford said:

The best players have to be the best players.

NOTES AND QUOTES FROM AVS PR

The Avalanche is now 0-1-2 against the Blues this season with one
more matchup remaining, April 1 at St. Louis.
Colorado is now 3-3-2 in afternoon games this season, including a 1-2-0 record in matinee contests at Pepsi Center.
The Blues extended their win streak to nine games, tied for the second-longest in franchise history. It’s also the NHL’s longest active winning streak and the second-longest this season (Buffalo, 10 games).
St. Louis posted consecutive shutouts for the 16th time in franchise history and first time since Feb. 6-7, 2017 when Carter Hutton and Jake Allen combined for the feat.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
Jake Allen recorded his 18th shutout of his career and second of the
season.
Vladimir Tarasenko extended his point streak to a career-high 11 games,
the second-longest active streak in the league. He’s tallied 19 points
(10g, 9a) in that span.
Nikita Zadorov matched a season-high with four blocked shots (also: Nov. 7 vs. Nashville).
QUOTES
Colorado D Nikita Zadorov
On Today’s Game: “It’s hard to win a game when you give up those chances. [It’s that] simple. It’s not about one minute, it’s about 60 minutes. Play 60 minutes with excellent focus and then that’s the only one chance you have in a game. I mean, we give up [that] 3-on-2 and left (St. Louis RW Vladimir) Tarasenko in front of the net and it cost us.”
On Regrouping: “We got to look in the mirror at what we need to fix,
where each of us can be better and that’s the only chance to win.”

Colorado C Carl Soderberg
On Regrouping: “We have to. I think we played a really good game in Winnipeg and the standings are very tight. Every game matters. I think we played hard today. We didn’t win, but we have to get back on Monday.”
On St. Louis G Jake Allen: “He played pretty good today, so did Varly (Colorado G Semyon Varlamov), both goalies played well. We just couldn’t find a way to score today.”

St. Louis G Jake Allen
On Getting The Start: “I’ve been through a lot. I’ve been through this same scenario many times, it’s nothing new to me. I treat my practices like my games and come in here and just go out there and have some fun with my team.”
On Staying Sharp: “I’ve been taking it all in stride. I’ve been so happy for the guys, so happy for Benner
(St. Louis G Jordan Bennington) the way he’s been playing. He’s been the best goalie in the league for the last month. He deserves to play and I’m here just whenever I get in there like everyone else. Like
Fabs (St. Louis RW Robby Fabbri) did today, came in and played well. You’ve got big shoes to fill and I think that’s a good thing and right now we’re rolling in the right direction and we’re still not done yet so I think for me it’s just coming in here and trying to contribute.”
St. Louis LW Brayden Schenn
On Playing with St. Louis RW Vladimir Tarasenko: “I’ve played with Vladdy enough to know what he does and I feel like we’re reading off each other right now and playing tight, playing close and supporting. I feel like Vladdy, when we get the puck, he’s in the right spot to shoot it and right now it’s scoring
and we love to see that.”
On His Recent Play: “Everyone wants to score, no doubt about it. Get chances helping the team, trying to win hockey games and I feel like my game’s come a long way in the past month and a half so the goals will come, hopefully, down the stretch here just got to keep shooting and get to the net.”