VANCOUVER - They’re leakier at the back than a faucet without a gasket and their last two wins have come against sides that went down a man due to red cards.

But the Vancouver Whitecaps are also scoring goals at a pace that would make even Lionel Messi jealous – 13 in five games – which is making for wild and unpredictable soccer that would test the coping ability of any manager.

When head coach Martin Rennie isn’t checking his ticker to ensure it’s still beating – “it can’t be good for my health watching these games” – he’s getting almost giddy at the possibilities with MLS bottom feeders Chivas USA and D.C. United on the horizon.

“We’ve won our third game out of the last five in MLS,” he said after the Caps overcame a 2-0 hole 20 minutes in with four consecutive goals and then hung on for a dramatic 4-3 victory over New England on Saturday night at B.C. Place.

“We’ve got a game coming up Wednesday at home (against Chivas) where we want to focus on getting our fourth win out of six, which will probably make us the hottest team in MLS if we can do that.”

Whoa there, coach. Sure, you can crow a bit given that there were calls for your head six weeks ago when a winless streak reached seven games. But settle down.

As forward Kenny Miller noted, the Caps made it “tougher than it probably should have been at the end . . . (and) there’s a lot of things we can improve on.(Giving) up three goals is disappointing to us.”

And to be fair, Rennie did say hottest, not the best. Given how porous the injury-decimated back line and goalkeeping has been – six goals conceded in the last two games – the Caps are definitely benefiting from the kind of breaks they weren’t getting earlier in the season.

They got a huge one in the 23rd minute Saturday when Miller, the resurgent Scotsman, locked onto a long ball from Russell Teibert and then tumbled down in the New England box with Revolution fullback Andrew Farrell, who was the last man back, nipping at his heels.

Although replays were inconclusive, Miller said later that Farrell did clip either his heels or his calf just as he was getting ready to shoot. Referee Juan Guzman pointed to the spot and red-carded Farrell.

Camilo converted the penalty with a decisive shot into the bottom corner of the net. It was the sixth goal of the season for the red-hot Brazilian, and the Caps were off and running.

Miller, with his first of two goals, made it 2-2 in the 39th minute, chipping a bouncing ball over centre back Stephen McCarthy , then racing around the defender to nod it down with his head and then his thigh and delivering a shot to the far post from close range.

Fullback Jordan Harvey made it 3-2 four minutes later, racing into the box at the far post, to drive home another sublime cross from young Canadian Russell Teibert. The cross followed a probing 30-yard run into opposition territory by mid-fielder Nigel Reo-Coker, the little bulldog who is almost impossible to knock off the ball.