Canucks 3 Red Wings 7

Game Recaps: canucks.com . ESPN
Statistics: Score Sheet . Stat Sheet

• You knew it was going to be that kind of night when: the Canucks blimp lost power during the first intermission, the score board malfunctioned in the second period, and the shot clock stopped working in the third. Even the guy they chose to shoot for prizes in the second intermission missed five shots at the open net way wide right.
• Some fans will look at the 11-2 powerplay advantage the Red Wings enjoyed last night and immediately question the officiating. The fact is, however, the Canucks were simply that bad. Far too many times, they turned the puck over in the neutral zone then stood idly on defense before taking their many, many lazy penalties.
• Because the Canucks spent more than the equivalent of one period on the penalty kill (21:09 minutes), Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi each logged only 13-something minutes of ice-time. Somehow, they still managed minus-4 and minus-3 ratings, respectively.
• The Canucks' top-four defensemen all logged more than 20 minutes of ice-time and combined for a minus-9 rating. Part of the reason was their inability to get the puck out of their zone. They miss Ed Jovanovski and Sami Salo and their ability to skate the puck up the ice.
• Nolan Baumgartner only logged 9:28 minutes of ice-time and struggled. He was one of the guys that stepped it up when Jovo first went down, but his decreased ice-time with the acquisitions of Carney and Weinrich seems to have sapped his confidence.
• More on the game from VCOE, James Mirtle and Abel to Yzerman.

"There's no doubt about it, things are real desperate," said Canuck captain Markus Naslund, who was a minus-four on the night. "But I'm confident that we'll make it. It doesn't look like it out there now, but we will find a way to get back to the winning ways. It starts now in Edmonton. We have three huge games here that are probably going to decide the fate of our hockey club."