The Vancouver Canucks’ penalty kill has been in rough shape right from the opening stretch, and the numbers make that impossible to ignore. Through five games, they’ve already given up at least one power-play goal in every contest and were burned for three more in Thursday’s loss in Carolina. That leaves them with a league-high eight goals against on 19 shorthanded chances and a 57.9 percent success rate, dead last in the NHL - the same spot they finished in last season.
There are reasons for the skid, and they’re not hard to find. Vancouver has run into a brutal opening slate, including two games against Edmonton and matchups with last season’s two Stanley Cup finalists. On top of that, the Canucks simply haven’t gotten enough saves while down a man, and in the early stages of a rebuild, the club is still sorting out which players can actually handle NHL penalty-killing minutes.
That learning curve has shown up all over the ice. Filip Hronek, usually one of the team’s steadier defenders, leads Canucks skaters in shorthanded ice time and has been on the ice for six of the eight goals against.
He has still managed a positive 5-on-5 goal differential early on, at 8-6, but no other skater in the league has been on for more power-play goals against. Elias Pettersson has also been on the ice for five of the eight goals surrendered, while Jamie Oleksiak, second on the team in shorthanded ice time, has been on for three power-play goals against.
Luke Schenn has been the outlier. Held out as a healthy scratch for Thursday’s 7-2 loss to the Hurricanes, he has not been on the ice for a power-play goal against in the four games he’s played. In fact, the Canucks have outscored opponents 1-0 in his shorthanded minutes, with Schenn on the ice for Paul Cotter’s season-opening penalty-kill goal in Edmonton.
Up front, Drew O’Connor has logged the most shorthanded time among Vancouver forwards at 10:00 and has been on the ice for just one power-play goal against. Elias Pettersson has quietly been effective in his own right, leading the team in points and hits while handling 8:24 of penalty-killing duty without allowing much to get through. But neither player can cover every shift, and Cotter has been the fifth most-used forward on the kill while being on the ice for one goal for and three against.
The tougher part of this stretch has been the minutes handed to younger penalty killers. Max Sasson is second among forwards with 9:09 of shorthanded ice time and has been on for half of the Canucks’ eight goals against.
Liam Öhgren ranks third among forwards at 8:33 on the penalty kill, and Vancouver has allowed three goals during those minutes. Arshdeep Bains has been on for three goals against in 6:49 shorthanded, while Aatu Räty has been out for two power-play goals against in just 1:19.
That makes Linus Karlsson’s usage stand out even more. While Manny Malhotra continues to mix and match defensive pairs and forward combinations, Karlsson has seen only seven seconds of shorthanded ice time despite a profile that seems tailor-made for the job, with his range, length and ability to win board battles.
Goaltending has been part of the problem, too. Natural Stat Trick has the Canucks at 4.85 expected goals against while shorthanded, but they’ve already allowed eight.
Kevin Lankinen, who was pulled for the second time in four starts on Thursday, has been charged with six of those power-play goals against. Leevi Meriläinen has allowed the other two.
Meriläinen has given up just one 5-on-5 goal in three appearances, but he has still been beaten twice on the penalty kill. Boston currently owns the league’s highest shorthanded xGA at 4.93, yet the Bruins have allowed only three power-play goals.
No other team has given up more than five through the first week.
The Canucks do get a softer test next, at least by these standards. They face New Jersey on Saturday, and the Devils are just 1-for-14 on the power play so far.
Whether Vancouver’s staff changes the penalty-kill approach or simply keeps giving this group time to absorb the system, the pressure is obvious. A 57.9 percent PK is a dangerous place to live for a young team that can’t keep bleeding goals on special teams.
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