Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar didn’t look his best returning from injury against the Jets.

He won’t deny it.

“A lot of it’s on me,” Makar said in the postgame dressing room Tuesday night, still processing a 4-2 home defeat. “I just wasn’t getting shots through today and then I wasn’t executing passes. I take a lot of the blame for that one.”

Now, some perspective.

Makar’s 34 points rank second among NHL defenseman, trailing only Quinn Hughes (36), while playing in three fewer games. Makar is still an early frontrunner for the

Norris Trophy. But those high standards weren’t met in the Winnipeg loss.

Like late in the first of a scoreless game, when Makar turned the puck over on a failed clear attempt in the defensive zone. The Jets capitalized by scoring an Adam Lowry goal with 2.2 seconds left in the period. Makar ended the night with a minus-2 rating.

“We’ve got to get more guys going in the right direction,” coach Jared Bednar said. “We’re kind of hit-or-miss throughout our lineup here for the last little bit. It’s costing us.”

Makar did not look at 100% health at times, lacking the same burst that makes him a skating dynamo. But he wouldn’t cop to injury being the source. Makar said he felt “good” facing Winnipeg.

“(The injury) basically sprung up, just wear and tear,” Makar said. “It’s sometimes tough on those ice surfaces over in California. Just very soft. I don’t know if it’s mainly the result of that. I just kind of tweaked something a little bit. Especially this early on in the season, I had to make sure that it’s not going to kind of spiral.

“Hopefully, it continues to get better. But it felt good tonight.”

Rantanen drought

Mikko Rantanen leads the Avalanche with 12 goals this season. But he hasn’t scored in eight straight games entering Saturday night’s home matchup against the Flyers.

“He’s doing some good things. I still want to see him pace it up a little bit. I know it’s bugging him,” Bednar said. “He’s still one of the most dangerous guys we have, right? We need him and I know he feels that. My philosophy is going to be to try and work him out of it with his input and help.”