Ducks shut out Red Wings behind Gibson
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- John Gibson continued his stellar play in net Wednesday night and Nick Ritchie and Ondrej Kase scored goals as the Anaheim Ducks snuffed out the Detroit Red Wings 2-0 at Honda Center.
Gibson, who tied a franchise record with 51 saves in Sunday's shootout victory against the Philadelphia Flyers, needed to stop only 23 on Wednesday in recording his eighth career shutout and second of the season.
Ritchie entered the day leading the Western Conference and fifth in the NHL in hits with 126, but it was his first-period goal that proved to be the game-winner.
The Red Wings, who came in with seven players on injured reserve, lost two more as injuries to defensemen Niklas Kronwall and Brendan Smith left Detroit with only four blue liners in the final period.
Ritchie gave Anaheim a 1-0 lead and also played a key role in getting the scoring play started. He pressured Detroit defenseman Jonathan Ericsson from behind as Ericsson tried to bring the puck out from behind his own net.
Ericsson rushed a pass along the boards that was intercepted by Kase, who immediately fired a centering pass that was partially deflected by Ritchie and then redirected by Ducks center Antoine Vermette as he stood in front of the Detroit crease. Petr Mrazek made the pad save, but Ritchie was in perfect position to shoot the rebound into the net at 13:54.
It was the ninth goal of the season for the second-year player, tying for fourth on the team with Andrew Cogliano.
Gibson didn't see nearly as much action at the outset as he did against the Flyers, posting two saves at the midway point of the opening period.
His first big save came on a redirection from Luke Glendening with 9:44 left, but Detroit managed only six shots in the period.
The Red Wings thought they had tied the score early in the second after a 3-on-2 rush led to a convergence in front of the Anaheim net. Smith's redirection hit the right post and skidded horizontally just outside the goal line just as Smith leaned into Gibson. That caused the right skate of Gibson to push the puck across the goal line.
Ducks coach Randy Carlyle requested a review based on goaltender interference and the goal was quickly nullified.
The Red Wings watched Smith limp to the locker room after he got his legs tangled with Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler, who was whistled for interference and took a rare seat in the penalty box. Kronwall's injury was less noticeable, but he was not on the bench for the third period.
The Red Wings hasn't scored a power-play goal on the road since Oct. 19 and were 1-for-36 with the man advantage in their previous nine games. Detroit didn't get much going on its first power play against the Ducks either, save for one scoring chance by Gustav Nyquist.
Detroit went on the power play again in the third period but an interference penalty on Steve Ott 48 seconds into the penalty wiped it out, and Kase scored his third goal of the season soon after.
NOTES: Ducks C Ryan Getzlaf missed the game with a lower-body injury sustained in the third period of Sunday's shootout victory against the visiting Philadelphia Flyers. Getzlaf, who has five goals and entered the night tied for seventh in the NHL with 25 assists, is day-to-day. Ducks D Korbinian Holzer was the team's other scratch. ... Detroit C Andreas Athanasiou was a healthy scratch after coming in with five goals and two assists in 23 games. Athanasiou had four goals and an assist in the season's first 12 games, but hasn't been as productive since suffering a lower-body injury Nov. 10 against the Vancouver Canucks, missing a month of action and potting one goal in the 11 games since returning. ... Red Wings G Petr Mrazek got the start after rookie G Jared Coreau was in net the previous two games, giving up all five goals in a 5-4 overtime loss Sunday in the outdoor game against the Toronto Maple Leafs. ... Coming off a franchise-record tying 51 saves Sunday, Ducks G John Gibson was back in the crease against the Red Wings.