Gibson stops 31 shots in Ducks’ 1-0 win over Coyotes
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) — John Gibson stopped 31 shots for his second shutout in four starts, Danton Heinen scored and the Anaheim Ducks beat the Arizona Coyotes 1-0 on Tuesday night.
Heinen scored his first goal of the season in the opening period and Gibson was sharp all night for his 21st career shutout. Gibson stopped 34 shots in a shutout against Minnesota on Jan. 18.
“He’s obviously a very good goaltender,” Ducks defenseman Ben Hutton said. “He makes some big saves and is very vocal back there.”
Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves in his 100th game with Arizona, but the Coyotes missed on numerous good chances and lost 1-0 for the second straight game. Arizona has dropped four of five overall.
“We had good possession time, we had the puck a lot, you’ve just got to find a way to score,” Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet said. “That’s the bottom line: We need some guys to score some goals for us.”
The Coyotes were caught flatfooted by a non-whistle in their last game, a 1-0 loss to Vegas. Thinking an icing call would be made, Jakob Chychrun took a wide angle to the puck behind the net and was beaten by Jonathan Marchessault, who set up William Karlsson for the winning goal with 42 seconds left.
The Ducks scored more than two goals for the first time this season on Sunday, beating Colorado 3-1 at home to earn three of a possible four points in the two-game set.
Anaheim had a good chance early against the Coyotes after a turnover by Arizona defenseman Jordan Goss, but Kuemper stopped Ryan Getzlaf on a breakaway.
Another turnover, by Drake Caggiula in Arizona’s end, put Kuemper in another tough spot midway through the period. He couldn’t make the stop this time, beaten by Heinen to the stick side with Chychrun blocking his view.
Gibson made a snatching glove save on Conor Garland in a sharp opening period, and Arizona’s Lawson Crouse hit the post on a shot from just outside the crease.
Arizona turned up the pressure in the second, outshooting Anaheim 14-2, but couldn’t get anything past Gibson.
The Coyotes had a prime chance after a turnover deep in the Ducks end, but Caggiula sailed a shot over the net with Gibson out of position. Gibson stopped Tyler Pitlick‘s shot from between the circles after another turnover two minutes later.
“The second period was bad decisions with the puck, not getting it deep when we needed to,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said.
The Ducks killed off a penalty early in the third period after Jacob Larsson ran Garland into the boards and Gibson stopped Nick Schmaltz from just outside the crease.
“We had lots of chances, lots of opportunities,” Crouse said. “We’ve just got to bang a dirty one at that point.”
PENALTY KILLING DUCKS
The Ducks have struggled on the power play all season and are still the only team without a goal on the man advantage (0 for 16) after missing on their lone chance against Arizona.
On the penalty kill, Anaheim has been lights out.
The Ducks entered Tuesday’s game third in the NHL, allowing two goals in 19 chances, and killed off all three penalties against Arizona.
“They’re almost frothing at the mouth to get out there and get another kill,” Eakins said. “They’ve been excellent, we’ve blocked a lot of shots there. The old adage is your goalie is usually your best penalty killer and we’ve got some great saves from our goalies.”
NUMBERS
Coyotes LW Johan Larsson played his 400th NHL game. … Heinen’s goal was his first since last March 8 against Minnesota. … Arizona D Niklas Hjalmarsson tied Dennis Seidenberg (1,549) for 20th on the NHL’s all-time blocked shots list after notching two against Anaheim.
UP NEXT
The Ducks and Coyotes close out the two-game set on Thursday.
