In many ways, it’s a credit to the Vancouver Canucks that they have managed to split their first 14 games with a penalty kill below 70%.

After allowing a pair of power play goals – including the tying goal late in the third period in Nashville on Monday – the Canucks are now tied with the Ottawa Senators, allowing the most power play goals (15) in the National Hockey League. The kill has sunk to 27th in the league at 69.4%.

Obviously, there are reasons for that. The team is without three of its top penalty killers in Conor Garland, Teddy Blueger and Derek Forbort. Beyond that, the Canucks got the short end of a questionable call on Evander Kane, whose reputation clearly preceded him against the Nashville Predators, when he was called for high-sticking on Luke Evangelista with 4:37 remaining in the third period, with the Canucks clinging to a 4-3 lead.

While much of the attention has been on a porous penalty kill that has returned to levels last seen late in the Travis Green era and continuing under Bruce Boudreau, perhaps the bigger issue is the sheer volume of penalties the team is taking at a time when the penalty killing isn’t sharp.

The easiest penalties to kill are the ones you don’t take. Unfortunately, only four teams in the league have been shorthanded more often than the Canucks have through the first four weeks of the season.

The Boston Bruins (62), Calgary Flames (56), Chicago Blackhawks (55) and Predators (53) are the only teams to take more minor penalties than the Canucks’ 52. The Bruins, Flames, Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings are the only teams that have been shorthanded more than the 49 times the Canucks have been a man down so far this season.

Evander Kane, Marcus Pettersson and Kiefer Sherwood lead the team parade to the penalty box. Kane’s nine minors are second only to Boston’s Charlie McAvoy, who has been whistled for 11 minors. Pettersson has taken seven minors while Sherwood has been sent off six times.

As a team, the Canucks have been guilty of far too many stick fouls. Eleven of their 52 minors have been tripping calls, while nine others have been for hooking. The Canucks have been assessed six high-sticking penalties, five for roughing and four each for holding and slashing.

Of the team’s regular skaters, Brock Boeser is the only one to appear in 10 games and not spend a moment in the penalty box. Lukas Reichel has yet to take a penalty in the six games he’s appeared in since being acquired by the Canucks.

At a point in time when the penalty kill just isn’t as sharp as it needs to be, it seems there should be a premium placed on discipline. Hockey is a fast sport with split-second decisions, and penalties are going to happen. But as much as people want to point to the struggling penalty kill, perhaps the focus ought to be on some of the decisions the team is making to put the club in peril.

Of their 14 games so far, the Canucks have had to kill five penalties twice (in Edmonton and Pittsburgh) and four penalties on four other occasions. Only once all season have they limited an opponent’s power play to just two opportunities. That was in a 4-3 overtime win against Edmonton on October 26th. In all, the Canucks have surrendered at least one power play goal in 10 of their 14 games.

Help is on the way in the form of returning bodies, but some of the injured players will need time to find their game to be able to raise the level of the penalty kill. In the meantime, the Canucks should do their utmost to demonstrate slightly better discipline to relieve the pressure on their penalty killers.