If the Vancouver Canucks weren’t already beaten when they stepped off the bus before their game in Winnipeg, they ensured themselves their 14th loss in 15 games within the first few minutes Thursday against the Jets.

The Canucks’ 6-2 loss was a massive and confounding step back from the competitive, sound team that had battled through its last four games, losing three of them by a total of four goals and essentially matching opponents at five-on-five.

Vancouver trailed 2-0 after four minutes and were outshot 7-0 at the start. And after Winnipeg netminder Stuart Skinner presented Liam Ohgren a gift goal at 6:51, the Canucks defended like Stonehenge — neatly spaced and immobile — when Dawson Mercer stood unchecked in the low slot between puck-watching defenders and converted Cole Perfetti’s centring pass to make it 3-1 at 14:04.

It was barely a game until that point, and never a game after it.

“Ultimately, it was a lack of effort and compete in certain. . . departments,” Canucks coach Manny Malhotra told reporters in Winnipeg. “We knew coming in that they play a very simple and direct style, and it suits them well. And we would have to be prepared and ready to compete at that level. We were on the short end of a lot of puck battles and races tonight. 

“These are the types of games where you find out a lot about your group in terms of what they're capable of doing in terms of pushing back. And (the Jets) played a big, heavy game tonight, and we didn't have the pushback necessary to........

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