VANCOUVER – When the Vancouver Canucks returned home three weeks ago, a distant last in the National Hockey League and with three wins in 25 games, we wondered how they were going to make it through an eight-game homestand.

The answer: with two more wins.

This is not the darkest or most vulnerable time in franchise history, but it is one of the most discouraging periods in the last 35 years.

The Canucks’ 4-0 loss Thursday against the middle-of-the-pack Los Angeles Kings, who were outshooting the home team 32-12 early in the third period, was Vancouver’s fourth straight in regulation and left it with a 2-6-0 record during March’s reality check. One of the two wins was in a shootout.

Their aggregate deficit over the final four contests was 18-6. The Canucks were shut out twice and generated 22 or fewer shots in five of the eight games.

Again, everyone understands the harsh reality of a rebuild, but the Canucks are failing at their baseline goal to be competitive.

32 Thoughts: The PodcastHockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.Latest episode

32 Thoughts: The Podcast

Hockey fans already know the name, but this is not the blog. From Sportsnet, 32 Thoughts: The Podcast with NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman and Kyle Bukauskas is a weekly deep dive into the biggest news and interviews from the hockey world.

“I mean, it's hard on everybody right now,” veteran defenceman Filip Hronek said. “It's not easy. But we have to learn from this. No one else is going to help us. We have to, like,........

© Sportsnet