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“That first one was kind of a flukey bounce and you do that 100 more times and it doesn’t go in once,” Del Zotto said of a John Morrissey cross-ice pass into the slot after Sven Baertschi had lost his stick and nearly cleared the puck out of the zone. “It happens.”

Trying to handle a bouncing puck when the Canucks were pressing for the late-game equalizer was another of those telling moments that overshadowed outshooting the Jets 32-20 and keeping the top line off the scoresheet until the Ehlers gift goal.

“You get to the end of the third and the ice isn’t quite as crisp as you want it to be,” added Del Zotto. “But we put ourselves in a position being down a goal and it’s a learning experience and we can’t hang our heads about it.”

The Canucks were often chasing the game in their own zone but got better at breakouts, puck management and movement through the neutral zone in the final two periods and generating enough chances to win.

However, what will hurt the Canucks the most is if injuries pile up on the back end. Just when they found symmetry in their pairings, the Edler injury will force the Canucks to re-examine how they deploy blueliners to avoid over-taxing players. After all, Del Zotto logged 24:38 in the season opener and has a history of ailments.

In the 2015-16 season, Del Zotto had a hand injury that required offseason surgery kept him out of the final 28 regular-season games. Last season, he suffered a preseason knee injury, didn’t play until the 13th game of the season before injuring an ankle while blocking a shot Jan. 21. That cost him 10 more games on the sidelines and the ankle was never really right the rest of the way.