VANCOUVER — In the final 2 ½ months of last season, when the Vancouver Canucks had the best penalty killing in the National Hockey League, the team yielded nine power-play goals over 31 games.

With three of their penalty-killing forwards from last season either gone or injured, the Canucks’ shorthanded units have been lit up for nine power-play goals in the last seven games.

Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens, the Canucks were the better team at five-on-five, building a 15-3 landslide advantage in high-danger scoring chances. But Vancouver lost a two-goal lead on special teams and lost the game 4-3 at Rogers Arena.

Sure, there were fortuitous puck bounces for the Canadiens on both of their power-play goals, including Juraj Slafkovsky’s 2-2 equalizer at 1:50 of the third period when

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