Carpe Diem
Incumbent goalie Frederick Andersen's bout with the flu opened the door for John Gibson to return to Anaheim. Not only did Gibson enter, he kicked the door in. In his four appearances, Gibson is 2-1-1 with a 1.82 goals against average and a .936 save percentage. One could argue his OT loss last Friday should have been a win, but a Duck collapse in the final minutes did him in. ,Conversely, in his four pre-flu starts Andersen was 1-2-1, surrendering 13 goals in 207 minutes. If Gibson stays hot, he should keep the job.
My philosophy is that in sports a player should not lose his job due to injury, with two exceptions. The first exception is in baseball if a platoon player steps it up and proves he can play full time. The second is NHL goalie. If a backup goalie seizes his opportunity and his team plays well, he should hold on to the job until conditions change. Or in other words, ride him while he's hot. Which brings us to:
You be the GM
I asked the readers to submit their ideas on what the Ducks should do to snap them out of their mediocre malaise. Aside from possibly trading Andersen, most of the responses I got dealt with young players and signings.
Honestly, I am all for trading Andersen and giving Gibson the reigns ASAP. The kid has the stuff, he is signed, he is younger, he is confident, but the biggest reason I feel that he is the better option is that he doesn't give up soft goals. We went with Hiller for years watching goals trickle through the pads and we put up with it because of his flashes of brilliance, just like Freddie. He would fetch good value now and then you don't have to try and sign him in the offseason and you don't potentially lose him for nothing while it allows more room for signing Lindholm and Vatanen. - JohnnyDucks88
The Ducks will be fine. Lots of youth to be seasoned. Another LW couldn't hurt. - Steve in Pasadena
I think Bob Murray's top priority is to get Vatanen and Lindholm signed (or determine that he won't be able to sign them) before he goes looking for the Top-6 forward he probably needs. - Hardenx
4/24/42/45/47 - I would look to make deals with FA and some of the SD kids, along with a forward contract that is mrkt value - before any of those 5 go anywhere - If.. the decision is made to trade FA then there are some options out there with teams looking for a solid netminder that can win games - Be aware that 17's ext is coming up and that may hamstring BM from signing those guys -- but I would exhaust every option before it comes to having to trade one or more unless you are getting a monster return - I think BM waits until after the first of the yr and then starts to really work the phones if the team does not become more consistent. – Dozer10
I'll add my two cents in the next blog.
Tampa Bay @ Ducks
Stanley Cup runners up, the Tampa Bay Lightning are in town. Tampa is also off to cool start and like Ducks are fighting to get back into playoff contention. Duck's center Nate Thompson makes his 2015-16 debut after missing the first two months following off-season shoulder surgery. Thompson's return puts Patrick Maroon in the pressbox tonight. John Gibson will be Anaheim's starting goalie. Here is the lineup:
Forwards Rakell-Getzlaf-Perry Ritchie-Kesler-Silfverberg Hagelin-Horcoff-Cogliano Santorelli-Thompson-Stewart Defensemen Fowler-Bieksa Lindholm-Manson Stoner-Vatanen
Goalies Gibson Khudobin
-Ed