Gibson shines in his return home
PITTSBURGH — John Gibson grew up in Pittsburgh. He downplayed his annual homecoming Saturday night, but his teammates with the Ducks understood this wasn’t just any game and it wasn’t just any arena for the 24-year-old who has helped keep them afloat during an uneven first half of the season.
What better way to thank Gibson for hanging in there than helping him shut down the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. Gibson turned aside 29 shots and the Ducks pounced on several sloppy mistakes by the Penguins for a 4-0 victory.
“It might sound silly, but for us, it was important,” said defenseman Cam Fowler, who capped the scoring with his fourth goal of the season. “Mainly because of what John’s done for us all season. I mean, he’s stood on his head multiple times and given us opportunities to win hockey games.”
Gibson didn’t quite have to go that far in picking up his first victory in his hometown. The Penguins got to him for five goals last year and six in the 2015-16 season opener.
While he wasn’t particularly busy, Gibson’s effort included a sprawling blocker save on Sidney Crosby in the second period that preserved a three-goal lead.
“Just throw something over there and hope [the puck] hits it,” Gibson said.
Rickard Rakell, Andrew Cogliano and Ondrej Kase also scored for the Ducks, who wrapped up a six-game trip with a flourish.
“I think the last few games, we’ve obviously been playing a lot better, especially defensively,” Gibson said. “I think we’re kind of getting in our zone and feeling confident. Definitely trending in the right direction.”
The Penguins not so much.
Matt Murray made 10 saves on 13 shots before he was pulled early in the second period after Cogliano turned a short-handed breakaway into his fifth goal this season. The Penguins have lost five of seven games and are one point out of last place in the Metropolitan Division.
“We made some big mistakes,” Crosby said. “Sometimes you can make those and get away with them and tonight they were big ones, some Grade A chances that we ended up giving up the other way.”
Kase pounced when a poor cross-ice pass by Kris Letang intended for Brian Dumoulin hit the boards behind Dumoulin and bounced toward the middle of the ice. Kase jumped on it, split Dumoulin and Letang, and f lipped a shot by Murray to put the Ducks ahead 3 minutes 10 seconds into the game.
Rakell doubled the lead midway through the first period, and Cogliano broke in alone and beat Murray between the legs to make it 3-0 at 3:42 of the second period.
Fowler scored against Tristan Jarry on a power play with 3.4 seconds to go in the second period.
The Ducks were 3-2-1 on the trip.