Detroit Red Wings mistakes against Vancouver prove costly

The Detroit Red Wings fell short against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday night, but there's plenty to be said about the team's efforts. After all, the Red Wings did not look horrible top-to-bottom, but costly mistakes proved to be a recipe for disaster.

That's not to discount the Canucks either, and the Detroit Red Wings had to go up against a tough team. Vancouver's been on a roll this season, and even though the Red Wings may have beaten them the other night, it was a different story in Thursday night's contest.

Thatcher Demko was not in net the last time the two teams squared off, and this time -- he was -- bringing his A-game. It was like when the Red Wings match up against Tampa Bay and Andrei Vasilevskiy stands on his head for the Lightning. Demko looked great from start to finish for the Canucks.

The Red Wings had the effort, and they were just unable to get the job done. The Canucks capitalized on Detroit's mistakes in the defensive zone. Pair that with the fact that they got out-goalie'd, leading to a 4-1 victory for Vancouver.

Detroit Red Wings costly mistakes lead to loss against Canucks.

The Canucks are known for their ability to start fast. Their offense is high-powered this season. Detroit held them early, but Jeff Petry made a huge mistake, leading to a goal about eight minutes in. Petry tried to clear a puck off the glass, making a poor read, and J.T. Miller was able to pick up the puck and fire it home, beating Lyon.

Just a few minutes later, Elias Lindholm caught Alex Lyon lacking with a snipe from the top of the zone. He helped extend Vancouver's lead, scoring another goal that felt like a softer goal from Lyon. Detroit was getting power play opportunities but could not get much going, which proved to be true all game long.

Detroit mustered up some scoring chances early, but nothing could beat Demko. However, they kept Vancouver from really tilting the ice; even with a two-goal lead, it felt like Detroit was still in it. J.T. Compher was producing the scoring chances early on, and he wound up scoring in the second period.

Early in the second period, Petry's rough game continued after he took a double-minor for high-sticking, giving Vancouver a four-minute power play. The pace picked up there, and Vancouver started putting the pressure on. Detroit got the big kill, but Vancouver extended their lead later in the period.

Nikita Zadorov corraled a puck and shot it from the point. Lyon could not see at all with a lot of traffic in front of him, resulting in a puck in the back of the net. Detroit answered back soon after with Compher's goal. He scored his 100th career goal after crashing the net and picking up a nice poke-check-pass from Patrick Kane that he buried to beat Demko.

The third period continued the Red Wings' struggles on the power play as they continued to muster up anything. They put up good chances and were trying to score, but again, Demko stood tall. Lindholm added his second goal of the night in the third to seal the deal for the Canucks.

Key Points from the Detroit Red Wings loss

The Red Wings got out-goalie'd, and that did not help anything. Lyon had a rough game against Edmonton after taking over in relief for the injured Ville Husso, who had to depart early in that contest due to injury. Lyon struggled again with some soft goals on Thursday.

The power play was abysmal. While Demko was outstanding, Detroit's lack of scoring chances due to passivity did not help in the slightest. The team had some good 5-on-5 chances, but the power-play was 0-for-5 on the day.

There needed to be more consistency in the defensive zone. At times, things looked great, and they avoided things getting really out of hand early on. Vancouver could have scored more goals, and there's no denying that. Jeff Petry looked horrible in this one, and his play proved costly for Detroit.

Lucas Raymond's night seemingly ended a shift or two early. He was getting beaten up all night long, it felt like. There was nothing over the line or anything but awkward hits, finished checks, and bad stick-checks that resulted in him getting beaten up. But near the end of the third period, Raymond took a tough hit when he was seemingly off-balance before getting sent into the boards awkwardly -- it's something to keep an eye on.

The Red Wings have dropped their last two games. They'll be back in action Saturday against Calgary.