John Gibson made 26 saves to earn the win in his 500th NHL game as the Anaheim Ducks defeated the Dallas Stars 2-1 on Tuesday night in Anaheim.
This was Gibson’s 202nd career victory, making him the 11th active goaltender and 85th in NHL history to reach 500 games.
Trevor Zegras and Cutter Gauthier scored for Anaheim, which won its fifth game in the last six. It was the Ducks’ first win with two or fewer goals since the season opener, a 2-0 shutout over San Jose on Oct. 12. Anaheim is now 2-24-4 when scoring two or fewer goals.
Colin Blackwell scored for Dallas, and Jake Oettinger stopped 26 shots. The Stars’ five-game winning streak was snapped, and this was Oettinger’s first loss in nine starts against Anaheim.
The Ducks took a 1-0 lead at 17:47 of the first period when Gauthier grabbed a loose puck in the slot and fired it into the top right corner.
Dallas tied it early in the third period when Blackwell scored off a pass from Sam Steel, who set him up with a backhand pass from the left circle.
Anaheim regained the lead just 2:38 later when Zegras, left alone in front of the net, redirected Alex Killorn’s no-look pass from the left circle past Oettinger for the game-winner.
Oettinger was pulled for an extra attacker with 2:08 remaining. After Frank Vatrano missed a chance at the empty net, Gibson made a glove save on Wyatt Johnston’s wrist shot from close range.
Gibson sealed the win with another save on Jason Robertson’s wrist shot with 19 seconds left.
