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The Anaheim Ducks picked up their second win in a row last night, defeating the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2.
The Ducks were completely outplayed through most of the game, being outshot 53-15. However, Anaheim was able to get ahead late in the second period off a goal from John Klingberg and somehow managed to hold off the Hurricanes in the third period, picking up a narrow victory.
It marks the end of a surprisingly respectable road trip for the Ducks, where they earned five of a possible eight points. Considering the quality of competition they faced, those are some unexpectedly great results for a team doing as poorly as the Ducks have been.
At the same time, they were still outshot 195-93 over the trip, which works out to an average of 49-23 per game. Still though, the results were positive, regardless of how they got to that outcome.
John Gibson was the story for Anaheim over most of the trip, posting a .947 save percentage across three starts, despite averaging 50 shots against per game. It’s the second game in a row where Gibson was the team’s MVP and despite the Ducks being outshot by at least 20 shots in each game Gibson played on the road trip, he somehow managed to go 2-0-1.
Facing the workload he has, it’s pretty outstanding how many times Gibson has almost single handedly kept Anaheim in a game. Over his last nine games dating back to Jan. 26, Gibson has posted a .922 save percentage with a 4-3-2 record. There’s obviously never been any doubting his talent, just his consistency: we all know what he can do when he’s playing at the top of his game. While he’s not going to bring the Ducks to the playoffs, it’s promising in terms of building up his value.
The Ducks will be back in action tomorrow, as they kick off a three-game homestand against the Chicago Blackhawks.
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