ANAHEIM — On a night of milestones, the Ducks had plenty to celebrate before the puck dropped and even more after the final horn sounded in their 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night at Honda Center.
Leading the way was goaltender John Gibson, whose 500th career game was a masterpiece as he made 26 saves to topple the NHL’s third-best team by points percentage and move the season series to 2-0 in the Ducks’ favor. Gibson, who debuted for the Ducks in 2014, has now played 53 more games than any other goalie in franchise history as he became the 85th goalie in league history to cross the 500-game threshold.
Mason McTavish, who played in his 200th game, wasn’t credited with an assist but made a key defensive play that led to Cutter Gauthier’s goal before Trevor Zegras scored the game-winner early in the third period. Jacob Trouba, whom the Ducks acquired in December, played his 800th game with his third different franchise, registering four shots, three blocks and two hits as the Ducks won their fourth straight home game.
Colin Blackwell scored for Dallas, which saw its five-game winning streak come to an end. Jake Oettinger repelled 26 shots.
The Ducks won for the fifth time in six games. The Ducks got leading scorer Troy Terry back (illness), while the Stars were without top defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who was deemed month-to-month after undergoing knee surgery on Tuesday morning.
It was just the second time this season that the Ducks won with fewer than three goals, the first being a 2-0 shutout of the San Jose Sharks in the season opener.
Dallas pushed late for a tying goal, testing Gibson with his opposite number seated on the bench in favor of an extra attacker but failing to solve him a second time.
With 15:53 to play, the Ducks had reassumed control, 2-1. A clearing attempt was knocked down at the blue line by Olen Zellweger, who sent the puck ahead to Alex Killorn, who moved it on to Zegras for a one-touch shot over the outstretched Oettinger, who had whiffed on his poke check. Zegras had also disrupted Dallas’ breakout initially, applying pressure on the forecheck after a lost faceoff before scoring his sixth goal of the campaign.
Holding a 1-0 lead at the second intermission, the Ducks then came up empty on their power play and then gave up a tying goal right after Jamie Benn’s penalty expired, 1:29 into the final frame.
Benn exited the penalty box as the Stars were coming up the ice, giving them numbers on the rush to back up the defense. He left the puck for former Duck Sam Steel, who held it patiently while awaiting the trailing Blackwell, who smacked the puck past Gibson.
The second period was even more of a netminders’ duel than the first, with neither goalie allowing a goal. Dallas’ Esa Lindell and the Ducks’ Frank Vatrano exchanged chances from close range, but Gibson and Oettinger were up to those tasks.
Late in the frame, the Ducks earned their second power play of the night, with Killorn producing a promising chance for their second unit. After Oettinger stymied Killorn, Benn went the other way on a short-handed partial breakaway that was thwarted by Gibson. The ensuing dustup in the goal crease left the Ducks with a brief two-man advantage and 80 seconds of fresh-ice power play in the third period.
Isac Lundeström’s backhand bid and follow-up attempts gave the Ducks a jolt with about 3:30 left in the first period and with 2:13 left they earned the first lead of the evening.
McTavish and Robby Fabbri teamed up on the forecheck to strip Blackwell. Fabbri emerged from the corner with the puck, driving the net and leaving a drop pass that banked off Steel’s skate to Gauthier, who placed his shot precisely amid a heap of bodies. It was Gauthier’s ninth goal of his rookie season and his second against Dallas after he had a goal and an assist in a 4-2 victory on Nov. 18.
NOTES
Gibson is the 10th American-born goaltender to reach the 500-game milestone and the third active one. The New York Rangers’ Jonathan Quick has appeared in 797 games and Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck has played in 547. It was also Gibson’s 202nd win, leaving him four wins from tying Jean-Sebastien Giguere for the most in franchise history.
More to come on this story.
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