John Gibson Shines In Stanley Cup Playoff Debut
When goaltender John Gibson burst onto the world scene during the 2013 World Junior Championships, it was immediately clear he had a bright future. A year later and John Gibson is still doing big things between the pipes. On Saturday night, Gibson got a call from the Anaheim Ducks to play in his first NHL playoff game and boy did he play. The rookie netminder managed to shutout the playoff dominate Los Angeles Kings in his NHL playoff debut.
With his 28 save shutout on Saturday, Gibson becomes the youngest goaltender ever to post a shutout in the post season, and he’s not going back to the AHL anytime soon. John Gibson got the call to the Ducks crease after both Frederik Andersen and Jonas Hiller went down with injuries. Hiller was able to play through his injury, however hasn’t looked good in the playoffs and as a result the new hot shot in town got the game.
Gibson likes to shutout his opponents and make a big debut. He also shutout the Vancouver Canucks a month ago in his NHL regular-season debut. In his young pro career thus far, John Gibson has a very impressive 4-0-0 record with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .965 save percentage and has stopped 111 of 115 shots. Not bad for a rookie.
Coach Bruce Boudreau admitted that John Gibson could have easily started the year with the Anaheim Ducks, however with their full crease they sent him to the AHL to get more playing time between the pipes. After an impressive year in the AHL going 21-17-4 with a 2.34 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine Gibson playing in the NHL full time next season.
Boudreau has said he will go back to John Gibson in game 6 as the John Gibson era in Anaheim officially begins. Looks like the Ducks may be busy dealing goaltenders this offseason as the future seems to be ready for the present.