KELOWNA – Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes looked like many of the Vancouver Canucks losses on the exhibition schedule. They fell behind, chased the game and ultimately didn’t have the firepower to mount any kind of comeback. There were moments like a first period two-man advantage where the Canucks did everything but score. However, that simply drives home the fact that offence will likely to be the same struggle when the games start to matter on Wednesday that it was throughout a preseason that yielded just 10 total goals in seven contests.

Five of the Canucks’ preseason goals were scored on the power play and five – including Nikolay Goldobin’s third period goal to snap Darcy Kuemper’s shutout bid on Saturday – were generated at even strength. The Goldobin goal snapped a streak of 12 straight goals by Canuck opponents dating back to Sam Gagner’s second-period marker against Los Angeles in Salt Lake City last Monday night.

In total, just seven players on the Canucks training camp roster found the back of the net in preseason. Goldobin, Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi each scored twice while Gagner, Elias Pettersson, Brandon Sutter and Brendan Leipsic each cashed in once.

Brock Boeser had an assist on Saturday, but did not score in five exhibition outings. Last year's 29-goal scorer sat out the first two preseason games, then played the final five without finding the back of the net. He was not alone. Other forwards who did not score include Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, Jake Virtanen, Tim Schaller, Tyler Motte, Darren Archibald and Markus Granlund.

Also, despite much off-season and training camp talk about it, the Canucks did not get a goal from a defenceman in exhibition action.

PRESEASON TAKEAWAYS

1) The Canucks surrendered the first goal of the game in six of their seven preseason contests. The only time they scored first was in their 4-3 shootout win over Los Angeles in the third game of the preseason. More than that, in 425 minutes of exhibition action, the Canucks led for all of 2:51 seconds at 1-0 at home against the Kings. Otherwise, they fell behind and were forced to play catch up in every other game which is hardly ideal when you can't score goals. This is a troubling trend because it's likely to happen so often once the games start to matter. This team isn't talented enough to dig itself out of a hole every night and think it has the firepower to climb out. The Canucks chased the game for so much of the preseason. Falling behind in games puts far too much pressure on the defence and goaltending to hold its own until the club can manufacture offence. And while it shouldn't be the case, it leaves the Canucks no margin for error when trailing 1-0 because if they surrender the next goal at that point, it's almost certainly game over at 2-0. They trailed 2-0 in four of their seven preseason games and 3-0 in three of them.

2) The decision the club makes on Tyler Motte will be a telling one. All summer and through camp, the coaching staff and management claimed if young players played well enough to earn a job, they'd be here. Motte played hard in his five preseason appearances. He played at evens and he also killed penalties. He hustled and absolutely looked like he wanted to be on that 23-man opening night roster. But he did not dress on Saturday. We'll soon find out what that means for the speedy winger who can be sent to Utica without being put on waivers. However, if the club goes that direction with this decision, then it flies in the face of everything that was said about young players earning spots and just how much actual open competition there was on a roster in need of many of the attributes Motte possesses. He certainly seemed to be more effective in the preseason than Granlund and Schaller and even Archibald. But with Antoine Roussel destined to start the season on IR, you have to wonder if the Canucks like Archibald's size and willingness to mix it up as Roussel would. Archibald started Saturday night on left wing with Brandon Sutter and Sam Gagner, but then switched halfway through the game to a line with Beagle and Schaller. He also replaced Schaller on the PK after the Coyotes 2-0 goal.

3) After sitting through seven preseason games, it's fair to ask two questions about the Canucks collective: do they have players capable of raising their level of play starting Wednesday? And how many players do they really have that are capable of impacting the outcome of a hockey game? Horvat, Boeser and it certainly appears Pettersson can move the needle offensively. After that, it begins to become a search for players who will generate offence with regularity. Goldobin had moments in the preseason, but consistency still remains an issue, however it would be a shock if he had not cemented a roster spot. In the second half of Saturday's game, he looked engaged and dangerous on a line with Pettersson and Boeser. As for the earlier question, it is troubling to wonder how much more so many of the players on the roster have to give. As a group, the Canucks scored one goal over the final seven periods of the preseason -- this after Travis Green had urged his players to ramp up their effort prior to Tuesday's 6-0 loss in Edmonton.

4) Jim Benning had declared prior to the start of training camp that the Canucks captaincy would be resolved before opening night. Well, here we are and still no declaration from the organization. Brandon Sutter, Chris Tanev and Alex Edler all wore letters on Saturday in Kelowna while Bo Horvat did not for the first time this preseason. The thinking here remains that the team will go without a full-time captain this season letting the dust settle on the Sedin era for a year before naming the next player to wear the “C” here. Certainly, that is a question that will get asked on Monday when the team is back on the ice.

5) Jacob Markstrom had a curious preseason. He was the last of the Canucks main goalies to see preseason action and ended up playing three full exhibition contests. He posted the team's lone victory and got virtually no goal support in two losses. What made his preseason somewhat out of the norm was that he played in just one NHL building -- the one he knows best. He debuted in a home game against Los Angeles just over a week ago. He then played in less than ideal conditions (ice and lighting) in Salt Lake City and finished up in another neutral site game in Kelowna. Markstrom's a veteran so it's not like he needs to see opposing NHL rinks at this stage of his career. But working with a new goalie coach in Ian Clark in the off-season and through training camp, he was forced to integrate the things he was working on in somewhat strange surroundings. Markstrom had his moments in his three preseason appearances, but with a team struggling so mightily to score goals, he will have no choice but to be razor-sharp when the puck drops on the new season on Wednesday night if the Canucks are to have any chance to win hockey games.

6) Not only does it look like Pettersson can play at the NHL level, the 19-year-old rookie gives every indication he can produce. Pettersson led the Canucks in preseason scoring with a goal and five assists. He dazzled with his skill level and seemed to gain confidence with each outing as he adapted to new surroundings. He finished the preseason with 10 shots on goal in five outings. He clearly has work to do in the face-off circle, but was singled out by Green following Saturday’s game for his defensive awareness and his commitment to back-checking. The coach also made note of Pettersson’s ability to process the game and not take unnecessary high-risk chances attempting to make plays that likely would not pan out.

7) Good news stories were in short-order in the Canucks’ preseason, but Ben Hutton’s redemption has to qualify. At the end of last season it was unclear where Hutton fit in the organization’s plans. He was sent home for the summer with direct instructions to report to camp in better shape. It appeared from day one that he had met those goals. Through the preseason, Hutton played almost exclusively with Chris Tanev in what seems to be one of the team’s top two pairings to start the season. Hutton also saw time on the top-unit power play, although that was perhaps just part of preseason experimentation. The onus will be on Hutton to keep his level of performance where it was through much of the preseason. But with Game 1 now just days away, not only does Hutton look like he’s made the most of a clean slate with the coach, he also looks like he’ll have the chance to get his career back on track.

The preseason is now a thing of the past. The Canucks can scrub their record and start from scratch on Wednesday, but it’s impossible to ignore the many warning signs in their play that were evident throughout the past two weeks.

Keep in mind, too, that aside from Roussel, the Canucks are as healthy as they will be all season right now. That will undoubtedly change. And they also have a beast of a schedule to open the season with a home game against Calgary followed by six straight on the road. And it’s not just the length of that early road trip but the quality of opponents they’ll face: Calgary, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Florida, Pittsburgh and Winnipeg. They return home to face Boston and Washington at Rogers Arena and then visit Las Vegas to round out their first 10 games of the season. In all, the Canucks start with 17 of their first 26 games on the road.

An underwhelming preseason has given us a glimpse of the type of team the Canucks could very well be this season. It’s up to them to prove otherwise