Looking back, you could probably say that that there were a lot of odds stacked against the Canucks winning in Raleigh.

There was the fact that it was a criminally early start, part of Gary Bettman’s efforts to forcefeed the NHL to markets that are less than interested in watching the game, sometimes at the fans expense.

There was Alain Vigneault’s decision to start Andrew Raycroft in lieu of Roberto Luongo, who had looked great in back to back starts against the Devils and Flyers. Given how crazy the Canucks schedule will be coming up, you can’t necessarily blame Vigenault for wanting to give Luongo an afternoon off.

Couple in the fact that this was the third game in four nights and you begin to understand why the Canucks looked bowling shoe ugly against the last place Carolina Hurricanes. Yeah, there are a number of excuses you could dip into to justify the Canucks dismal play, all of which I am sure played a factor in the 5-3 affair, despite a late third period comeback attempt.

While it’d be convenient to chalk up the Canucks loss to the schedule, today’s game had bigger concerns than the Canucks not being able to sleep in. Despite being number one in the league for goals scored on the power play, the Canucks have been absolutely impotent with the man advantage lately, failing to cash in on three attempts, leading to the Canucks being shut out on their last twelve powerplay attempts. Improving the powerplay was one of the areas Mike Gillis focused on this past offseason and seeing such inconsistency with the Canucks has got to be frustrating for the GM and fans alike.

Especially when playing against the Hurricanes, a team ranked 20th overall with their efforts on the penalty kill, a team that is also missing their number one goaltender, Cam Ward. Interestingly enough, the Canucks rank just below the Hurricances, clocking in at 21st overall on the PK. It should be noted, though, that the Canucks have been impressive at killing off penalties lately, having killed 12 of their last 13.

Special teams have got to be a concern for the Canucks, as their 5 on 5 play has actually been solid over the course of the season, as their 5 on 5 goals against ratio rates them 4th overall, behind only Washington, Calgary and San Jose. That said, I don’t care how great of a team you are or how poorly the team you’re playing against is, if your powerplay isn’t producing chances, you’re going to get caught eventually.

As for the schedule? There should be some cause for concern from the Canuck faithful as well, as they haven’t fared too well in games that have been clustered closely together. Up until now, the Canucks schedule hasn’t been that challenging. There’s the 14 game road trip coming up due to the Olympics, followed up with 5 games in 8 nights. There’s also a similar three games in four nights coming up in December, including back to back NW division matchups. If the Canucks are exhausted or taken out of the swing of things this easily, it’s going to be hard for them to make the playoffs come springtime.

All that said, there ARE some positives to come out of this game. Steve Bernier continues to play well this season and is on pace to smash his previous career high offensive totals…all while playing on the third line. Kyle Wellwood was one of the few Canucks who looked like he gave a damn in the second period, showing some flashes of his play during the playoffs where he actually went to the net. Kesler, despite being absolutely snakebitten right now and ending up a -2 in the game, had some great chances along with Raymond. I really hope that Iain MacIntyre was wrong in his assessment that Michael Grabner will be sent down to the Moose once he’s healthy, as I’d like to see that second line come together again. That said, if Pavol Demitra will be healthy, it looks as though there won’t be much of a choice. Sigh.

Sidenote: I can’t get over the fact that Kesler is ‘only’ 25 years old. Seems like he’s been a Canuck for ages. Hopefully Gillis will get him signed and make that a reality.

The Canucks close out their road trip with a trip to Music City, taking on the Predators Tuesday at 5PM PST/8PM EST. They’ll then enjoy an 8 game homestand.