I have got to give Bruce Boudreau credit. The guy has some serious cajones. His decision to start a 20-year-old unproven goaltender in what equated to a must-win for his team could have gone horribly bad.
But it didn't.
John Gibson came in, made 28 saves and shut out the Kings at home to even up the Freewat Face-Off at two games apiece.
As if this series need any more subplots.
There was BB's decision to start Freddie Andersen in this series even though he was pulled twice in the Dallas series and Jonas Hiller appeared to be in a zone.
There is the Corey Perry/ Drew Doughty rivalry.
There's the fact that the home team is 0-4 in this series.
Then Andersen gets hurt and Hiller comes in to earn his second win in relief of the postseason.
There is the whole Battle for So Cal subplot and the list goes on and on.
Now you add the decision to play Gibson over Hiller and this series makes all the plot twists in the Young and the Restless seem stale.
But, man....what a game for Gibson and the Ducks. Anaheim jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first period before shutting it down. As a team, the Ducks managed just three shots over the final 40 minutes of play. If this was the mid-90's, you might think Anaheim was playing some version of the "trap."
In the end it was enough to win the game and we are all tied up heading back to Anaheim for game 5 on Monday night.
The real story was the play of Gibson. The kid was phenomenal. He didn't leave many rebounds and the ones he did, his teammates where quickly there to bail him. He did an excellent job of deflecting pucks into corners and out of harms way.
Ducks' fan or not, you have to admit that was fun to watch.
Boudreau has already said Gibby will start game 5. How do you follow up a game like the one he played last night? I don't know what you can do for an encore, but a win and series lead might come close.
Gibson has not lost an NHL game of any kind. He went 3-0 during the regular season and earned a shutout in his first career regular season game as well. So how did he do in his next game? Well, he stopped 36 or 38 shots for a .947 save percentage in a late season win over the surging San Jose Sharks. This kid knows how to handle pressure and can easily rise to any occasion.
If you really think about it....have either Hiller or Andersen been a difference maker in the playoffs? Have they stolen any games for the Ducks? Probably not.
We have seen teams ride excellent goal tending to the Cup before...See 'Kings' a couple of seasons ago.
Having Gibson in goal just might be the little kick Anaheim needs to swing the pendulum back into their favor and help them to a prolonged playoff run.
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couple of quick side notes...
- I have been very impressed with the play of Cam Fowler. He's really matured this season and his play has been exceptional.
- Andrew Cogliano and Devante Smith-Pelly are giving the Kings fits. They don't seem to have an answer for either of them. Cogs hasn't been on the score-sheet but he has been a big factor throughout.
Smith-Pelly was paired with Getzlaf and Perry and scored an important goal last night. He now has three goals in the playoffs and he too is coming into his own.
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I'm anxious to see what happens next.
Thanks for reading!