Ducks’ John Gibson leaves game with injury

The Anaheim Ducks have announced that goaltender John Gibson has left Wednesday’s game against the Vancouver Canucks with an injury.

Gibson sustained the injury midway through the game when Canucks forward Drew O’Connor drove to the net and collided with the 31-year-old. Gibson left the game immediately, and was officially announced as out later in the period.

The details about what the injury is, the severity of it, and the expected timeline of return for Gibson has yet to be confirmed. It’s also not known if Gibson is actually injured, or if the Ducks kept him out of the game for trade-related precautions. While Gibson isn’t considered to be one of the likeliest of players to move, his name has still been thrown around in trade rumours.

Gibson left the game having stopped 19 of 21 shots for a .905 save percentage, with the Canucks winning 2-1 at the time of his departure.

Gibson has had a return to form this season, as despite a 9-10-2 record on a middling Ducks team, he had a .911 SV% and a +11.14 goals saved above expected in 25 games. It’s his highest SV% and GSAx marks since the 2018-19 season where he had a .917 SV% and a 26.9 GSAx.

With Gibson leaving the game, Lukas Dostal replaced him in the game, with the score at 3-2 and Dostal stopping 14 of 15 shots for a .933 SV% at the time of publishing. Dostal has emerged as the Ducks starting goalie for the future this season, with an 18-14-5 record, a .911 SV%, 1 shutout and a 27.78 GSAx, with the latter stat being the third best mark in the league.

The Ducks entered Wednesday’s game in sixth in the Pacific Division with a 27-26-7 record, and are six points behind the Calgary Flames for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.