WINNIPEG — The way the Vancouver Canucks played the last two weeks, the only Game 7 they’ll be seeing this season was Wednesday, when they ended a marathon road test with a 4-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets.

In 45 years in the National Hockey League, the Canucks travelled farther than they ever have to get one win — visiting seven cities in 12 days and covering about 9,000 kilometres to finish the trip 1-4-2.

That 5-3 win in Columbus was so long ago we can hardly remember it. Even Canucks players admit they were lucky to win there.

Against weaker opponents at the start of the trip, the Canucks were poor. They elevated their game against better — or in the case of the Jets, bigger — opponents at the end, but by the third period Wednesday, they were clearly out of gas. Trailing 2-1, the Canucks were outshot 17-6 in the final period and finally expired with 2:45 remaining when Mark Scheifele scored his second goal of the game after a ghastly turnover in front of the Vancouver net by defenceman Dan Hamhuis.

The most consistent thing about the Canucks was their ability to surrender scoring chances and three or four goals in all seven games. The most frustrating part was their inability to win close ones.

They were tied late in the second against the Jets and lost by three, with an empty-netter. They led late in the third in Montreal but lost 4-3 in overtime. Scored first in Ottawa but lost 3-2. Rallied to tie in New Jersey but lost 4-3 in OT. Rallied to tie in Buffalo before losing 3-2 with 17 seconds remaining.

“Every single one of them we’re in and we feel we have momentum and are carrying play,” Canucks winger Jannik Hansen said. “Even today, in the second period, I think the shots were 25 to 13 and we have tons of opportunities. They have one whack at it and put it back in our net. It’s frustrating. But we can’t change a bunch of things because we’re not playing bad. We’re just not winning the close games.

“We felt like we were right there. The way the trip started gave a pretty good picture of our road trip. We were almost there, but not quite.”

The Canucks can’t make the playoffs in November, but they can miss them if they keep this up.

It won’t get easier. Road-weary, they face the Chicago Blackhawks and New Jersey Devils back-to-back at home, starting Saturday, then leave for another four-game trip with a higher standard of opponents than they faced on the seven-gamer.

“It’s really disappointing,” winger Daniel Sedin said of one of the Canucks’ least productive extended road trips in 25 years. “I think we’re playing better now than we did on the first games of this road trip. We’ve got to stick together and keep believing that we’re playing the right way. That’s the only way we get out of this.

“We could have been in a great position (in the standings), but we lost a few games. We have to believe we can turn this thing around, starting Friday when we practise. Anytime you lose a few in a row, you need that big game to get a win and get on a roll the other way.”

To do that, the Canucks will need to eliminate the silver-platter scoring chances they’re presenting, get better goaltending and better special teams play.