Ducks goalie leaves game early with upper-body injury

It’s unclear as to when the injury occurred during the game, but Gibson did not return to the crease for the start of the second period. There’s also no word as to the severity of the injury, or how long he will be out of the lineup to recover from the injury. He finished the game stopping six of seven shots for an .857 save percentage, with the game tied 1-1 after the first.

Gibson, 30, has had rough numbers to start the season but might be performing a bit better under the surface. He currently has a 1-3-0 record and a .905 save percentage through four games before Monday’s game, but also has 2.24 goals saved above expected at even strength, indicating that there may be more to the problem than just him. Since the 2019-20 season, Gibson has had a -4.72 5v5 goals saved above expected, so it may have been the start of a bounce-back year for Gibson.

Gibson was a second-round pick of the Ducks in the 2011 NHL Draft and has played the entirety of his 11-season NHL career in Anaheim. He’s in the fifth year of an eight-year contract with a $6.4 million cap hit, which is the fourth-highest among NHL goaltenders and third-highest among active goalies after Carey Price, Sergei Bobrovsky and Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Ducks backup goaltender Lukas Dostal replaced Gibson in the game after Gibson left with the injury. The Ducks 2018 third-round pick currently has a 3-1-0 record, a .915 save percentage, and 1.21 5v5 goals saved above expected through four games entering Monday’s game against the Panthers.

With the timeline of return for Gibson unknown at this point, it’s not confirmed as to whether the Ducks will call up another goalie from the minors to take his place. The Ducks currently have Calle Clang, Gage Alexander and Alex Stalock signed to contracts in the AHL and ECHL, with Stalock being the most experienced and likely option for a call-up if it’s needed.