[You can see the original post with videos here]

Tonight's <a href="http://canucks.nhl.com/club/recap.htm?id=2009021066">4-3 overtime loss </a>to the Red Wings had elements of a crushing defeat, but it wasn't really one. If there's ever a time to <a href="http://canuckpuck.com/2009/10/27/staying-medium/">stay medium</a>, this would be it; it's far too easy to get fired up about wins or disappointed about losses without considering them in the grand scheme of things. If you take the long view, this one wasn't actually so bad.

The game started auspiciously for Canucks fans, as Vancouver played well early on and scored two quick goals. Things soon went downhill, though. The Canucks let Detroit back into the game by allowing two goals in five seconds, including a <b>Pavel Datsyuk</b> 40-footer that brought back bad memories of other long-range Detroit goals against Vancouver, such as this one:

It's perhaps appropriate that Datsyuk scored that one, as <b>Chris Hollis</b> <a href="http://motownwings.com/2010/03/20/the-chase-pavel-datsyuk/">predicted</a> he'd have a big role to play tonight. I'm not sure if that's exactly what he imagined, though.

The situation continued to deteriorate for the Canucks, as they then fell behind 3-2 late in the second period when they let <b>Valtteri Filppula</b> walk in alone on a shorthanded breakawy. They battled back to tie it up and send it to overtime, and were less than a second away from a shootout when <b>Henrik Zetterberg</b> beat <b>Roberto Luongo</b> to win it for the Red Wings. When you combine that with the long-range goal and the Filppula breakaway, there are lots of unfortunate portents Canucks fans can take away from this one, and that's before we consider that Detroit outshot Vancouver 54-32 on the night.

This is obviously disappointing on several fronts. This was not a good overall game by the Canucks, and there were some egregious mistakes. I've <a href="http://canuckpuck.com/2010/02/11/sitting-around/">written</a> <a href="http://canuckpuck.com/2009/12/10/prey/">before</a> about the need to do well against teams that are further down in the standings, and from one point of view, Detroit fits there; they're barely hanging on to the eighth playoff spot in the West at the moment. Moreover, allowing so many shots on Luongo might help to tire him out before the playoffs, and it certainly doesn't inspire him to have faith in the team in front of him. The long-range goal he allowed doesn't help the team's confidence in him, either, and the late goal might crush the entire team's morale.

However, there are plenty of bright spots to be found in this one. For one thing, <b>Shane O'Brien</b> looked very good after returning from the press box, finishing with a goal and an assist. <b>Kyle Wellwood</b> had a nice night with a goal and an assist, and <b>Kevin Bieksa</b> continued his return to form. Luongo played well on the whole and made several impressive saves. The bizarre nature of the Red Wings' goals and the mistakes that led to them can be seen as an indictment of the Canucks, but they can also be seen as random events that altered what could have easily have been a Vancouver win. With a few bounces, the end result could have been quite different.

Moreover, keep in mind that the Red Wings aren't as bad as the standings make them look. Yes, they're fighting for the final playoff berth in the West, but with 83 points, they have more points than all but the top four teams in the Eastern Conference. They've also been playing well lately; they're 7-2-1 in their last 10. These aren't the incredibly dominant Red Wings we're used to seeing, but they're far from chopped liver.

Finally, the one point Vancouver picked up will certainly still help. It's not the two they were hoping for, but the point for an overtime/shootout loss has become an increasingly important part of the NHL in recent years. Every point counts the same in the standings, so this is still at least partially a victory, even if right now it feels like a defeat. It's a blow for the Canucks, but it's not a shot through the heart.