Penalty killing was again the demise of the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday as they gave up three power-play goals to the Colorado Avalanche en route to seeing their winless skid hit five games.

Vancouver saw their penalty kill success rate drop to a league-worst 62.3 per cent in the 4-2 loss to the Avalanche.

“It’s a bit of a broken record, I’m sure," Canucks defenceman Tucker Poolman said. "Just every game it’s a play here or there and it happens to be on special teams one way or another. But we’ve got to stick with it as a group here, play hard for each other and just keep grinding.”

Poolman gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead early in the third period, but two power-play goals from the Avalanche in less than minute shortly after his goal turned the tide of the game.

The Avalanche, who were outshot 34-30 by Vancouver, finished three-for-five with the man advantage, improving their success rate to 19.6 per cent on the season.

“Frustrating to lose, especially with an effort like that," Canucks head coach Travis Green said. "Five on five was one of our better games of the year. Obviously, the penalty kill let us down.”

“Sometimes when the ball’s rolling down hill, it’s hard to stop the momentum,” he added. “But I thought in ways we took some steps tonight. I thought we got a little unlucky on the kill tonight. But we’ve got to be better. There’s no doubt about it.”

The Canucks will try again to snap their current skid on Friday against the Winnipeg Jets and complete their current three-game homestand against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday.