Goal is for Gibson to remain healthy
Injuries came at the worst time for Ducks
Gibson was an impenetrable fortress, swatting away every puck that approached.
He was the hottest goaltender in the league since the calendar flipped over to 2017. For seven-plus weeks, he posted a sparkling 1.82 goals-against-average along with four shutouts.
Gibson gave up only 33 goals on 545 shots, but then it happened: another lower-body injury. He missed close to a month, his momentum shattered, only to return for a few games when he found himself on the sideline again with another ailment.
This time, he was out 20 days, and the 24-year-old was limited to 49 starts. And when the Ducks needed him most, in an attempt to stave off elimination from the Nashville Predators in the Western Conference finals, Gibson wasn’t there.
It was Jonathan Bernier who handled the crease in the final game of the Ducks’ quest to win the Stanley Cup for a second time (Gibson was hampered by a hamstring injury).
Now, the Ducks have a more caJohn
pable backup in Ryan Miller, the former Vezina Trophy winner as the league’s best goaltender who signed a two-year free-agent deal in the offseason. But if the Ducks are to fulfill their vast potential, it will need to be Gibson who carries the load. And to do that, he needs to be on the ice.
“I was dealing with some injuries throughout the year, so it’s tough to [change your approach] during the year, especially when you’re not 100%,” said Gibson, who posted a 2.22 goals-against average and .924 save percentage last season. “There’s not a whole lot you can be doing, you just try to monitor it. But in the summer is when you can sit back and get a game plan and get a regimen in place, and that’s what I did.
“I’m excited for the year, and hopefully I can stick to that and everything should be good.”
Gibson was nagged by lower-body injuries during the 2015-16 season too. A renewed focus on stretching should help, though Gibson said he didn’t “really change too much” other than “put a little more focus on some things that I thought would help.”
The 6-foot-3 goalie said he enters the season at full health following a strong preseason.
Power-play struggles
The Ducks secured nine more man advantages last season than the previous one but came away with nine fewer power-play goals.
After producing the league’s No. 1-ranked powerplay unit with a 23.1 conversation percentage in 2015-16, the team dipped to the middle of the pack (No. 17) by scoring just 18.7% of the time.
The special-teams unit has been a focus during the preseason, and Cam Fowler, who quarterbacks the power play, believes he knows what’s ailing the Ducks on the man advantage.
“We have to get the people in the right places initially; we have to get our [zone] entries,” said Fowler, who signed an eight-year, $52-million extension in the offseason. “And then once we get set up, we normally gain a lot of scoring chances. When we get in trouble, we’re getting stuck in the neutral zone. We can’t enter [against] teams with speed, and then we get frustrated.
“So we need to work on that and when we do get set up, most of the time it ends up at least gaining momentum for our team.”
With power-play mainstays such as Ryan Kesler, Hampus Lindholm and Sami Vatanen sidelined to begin the season, the struggles could come early and often.