John Gibson has been the hottest goaltender in the NHL since the start of December and on Monday was recognized by the league as the second star for last week.
Gibson went 3-0-0 with a 1.33 goals-against average, .955 save percentage and one shutout (4-0 at Montreal Saturday) to help the Detroit Red Wings climb back into first place in the Atlantic Division.
“He was in Anaheim for 12 years as a go-to guy and all of a sudden you leave — and he knew it was coming — and he arrived here and now you’re in a new community, a new team, new goaltender,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan said. “And maybe we don’t put enough into it being the goaltender position. You only play every second night to start the year. You want both goaltenders up and running. I think it took a little while for him to adjust, but I give him credit for sticking with it.
“He was stubborn, he worked hard in practice, he found his game and once he found it, in our experience with him in Anaheim, (Red Wings assistant Trent Yawney) coaching him, is once he finds it, he tends to keep it for a long time. So, we keep running him as much as we can and talents to stay ready because he’s real important as well.”
Gibson will make his fifth consecutive start tonight at home against the Carolina Hurricanes (7 p.m., FanDuel Sports Network).
Gibson is 12-2-0 in his past 14 starts, with a 2.01 goals-against average and .932 save percentage. He went 5-7-1 with a 3.59 GAA and .865 save percentage in October and November.