Where the Avalanche’s championship mojo has gone is no mystery. It’s been swallowed by a $27 million black hole at the center of the ice.

Colorado has 99 problems in the Western Conference final, and the injury to star defenseman Cale Makar is only one. But the No. 1 reason for the Avs’ 2-0 deficit in this best-of-seven series is a big and expensive math problem.

Nathan MacKinnon: $12.6 million.

Brock Nelson: $7.5 million.

Nazem Kadri: $7 million.

While their salary-cap hits demand that Colorado’s much-ballyhooed and expensive centers shine like stars, the truth is far different.

Against the Golden Knights, MacKinnon, Nelson and Kadri haven’t been worth a plug nickel.

And it starts with MacKinnon. His 53 goals and 74 assists during the regular season make him the odds-on favorite to win the Hart Trophy.

During two startling home losses against Vegas, however, maybe what was most shocking is how average MacKinnon has been.

There’s only a single assist on his ledger. And even more unsettling, MacKinnon has only found the time and space to uncork a scant four shots on goal against the Knights’ defense,

When a first glance at the stat sheet revealed he forced netminder Carter Hart to make one measly save in the Avs’ 3-1 loss in Game 2, the number was so unnerving I thought it had to be a misprint.

“We’ve got to find a way to score more than one (goal) most nights to win this series,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said Saturday.

Well, duh. Truer words have never been spoken.

What’s more complicated is how Bednar can finagle more open ice for MacKinnon, who’s breathtakingly dangerous when flying with the puck on his stick into the attack zone.

But under the stern hand of Vegas coach John Tortorella, the Knights have stubbornly refused to let the Avs play anything resembling their beautiful game.

Get this: After reviewing the video of his team’s Friday night flop, Bednar declared Colorado did not generate a single odd-man rush against Vegas.

The Knights’ mission is among the oldest tricks in the playoff hockey book. They’re packing five skaters between the dots, mucking up the middle and making the neutral zone a no-fly zone for the Avalanche to create quick-strike scoring chances.

“There’s some anger and some frustration,” said Bednar, after a pointed discussion in a meeting with his players before they hopped on the team plane for the flight to Sin City.

No member of the Avs is more apt to get frustrated to the point of distraction than MacKinnon. It’s the downside to his maniacal competitiveness, and as obvious as him furiously pounding his stick while fuming on the Avalanche bench.

So while Bednar calls for his team to amp up his competitive intensity, Job One for the coach is finding a way to calm down MacKinnon.

Until further notice in this series, the obvious answer is to remove Martin Necas from the top line. Against Vegas, Bednar has discovered he much prefers the look of Gabe Landeskog and Artturi Lehkonen as MacKinnon’s wing men, as they both have a nose for the forecheck and the guts to camp out in the crease.

Fixing what’s wrong with Nelson and Kadri seems to be a much stickier wicket.

Smarter hockey analysts than me have touted the Avalanche’s depth of talent at 2C and 3C as the strongest reason to believe this team couldn’t be stopped in its quest for the Stanley Cup.

While Nelson does all the small things with the commitment of an ultimate teammate, he seems uncommonly reluctant to take charge offensively in a way you could demand from a $7.5 million center.

Having Necas as his wingman might give Nelson the comfort of passing the puck to a more creative offensive force. And if that move can’t infuse energy into the second scoring line, Bednar must consider something more drastic, maybe going so far as to drop Nelson down to center a checking line while elevating feisty Ross Colton or unflappable Jack Drury to take his place as 2C.

And Kadri? 

This hurts, but at age 35, he simply is no longer the player that Colorado teammates and fans loved during the Avalanche’s run to the championship in 2022.

While still full of the persnickety and vinegar that makes Kadri take joy in being ready to rumble with the Knights at every turn of his skates, his legs look heavy and his reactions appear slow on too many shifts.

While a return of Makar, even if he’s at 80 percent of peak efficiency, would make his coach appear smarter and teammates look better, there’s no guarantee the ailing defenseman will don an Avalanche sweater in Vegas.

“Cale is the only person that knows when he’s good enough to play. That’s why it’s his decision,” Bednar said.

Then Bednar added what felt like a gentle nudge to Makar’s aching shoulder by saying: “You’ve got to get to a level of being comfortable with what you’re dealing with, and the pain tolerance, and depending on what he’s dealing with, he will tell us when he’s ready to play.”

This team’s problems extend far beyond Makar’s willingness to rub some dirt on his injury and lace up the skates.

Bednar will either find a way to get more from MacKinnon, Nelson and Kadri, or the coach will watch the Avalanche’s championship aspirations vanish in a black hole at the center of the ice.