They say old habits die hard, and as Detroit Red Wings goalie John Gibson was facing his old team on Thursday, a familiar outcome was the end result of the evening.

He left the game with an injury.

Gibson departed after two periods from Thursday’s 6-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks. That’s the team that traded the veteran and oft-injured netminder to Detroit in the summer.

john gibson getting revenge on the ducks not by stopping their shots but by sitting on them pic.twitter.com/zQvNZInNd1

— parks 🦆👍 ⁷⁷ ²² ⁵ (@allstarvatrano) November 14, 2025

“Gibby left after the second with an upper body issue,” Red Wings coach Todd McLellan reported after the game. “He’s still going to be evaluated tonight, and we’ll see how he is in the morning.”

Cam Talbot played the third period and ended up getting the win.

How Gibson came to be injured was an unanswered question. He was involved in a collision with an Anaheim player late in the second period and was slow to get up. During the course of the game, he also took two hard shots flush to the face. One knocked his mask off.

Were any of those incidents the culprit?

“I couldn’t tell you,” McLellan said. “I don’t know.”

Red Wings Have Little In The Way Of Goalie Options

If you think that was a loaded question, try this one on for size:

If Gibson’s out, who joins Talbot in Detroit’s goaltending tandem?

Both of the goalies for the Grand Rapids Griffins, Detroit’s AHL farm club, are on the shelf. Michal Postava is out long-term and won’t be an option. Sebastian Cossa, who made his NHL debut for Detroit last season, is just coming back from his injury absence. Since Grand Rapids plays just one game this weekend and then doesn’t play for a week, the thinking was that Cossa wouldn’t play tonight and would be given the free week to heal.

That thinking may have to change if the Red Wings need a backup goalie. Detroit plays at home on Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres. Then the team travels to the Big Apple to face the New York Rangers on Sunday.

“We have a tough weekend coming up,” McLellan said.

Is it too much to ask Talbot, 38, the NHL’s second-oldest netminder, to play on consecutive nights?

The Red Wings may not have a choice.

Two-time Calder Cup champion Dustin Tokarski is back in the AHL. He just signed a PTO with Grand Rapids.

The Griffins have had to deal with Sebastian Cossa and Michal Postava both being out of action in the past week.

— PATRICK WILLIAMS (@pwilliamsAHL) November 13, 2025

If Cossa can’t go, the other goaltending options in Grand Rapids are Carter Gylander, recently recalled from the ECHL Toledo Walleye, and journeyman veteran Dustin Tokarski. Tokarski just signed with the Griffins on Thursday. He hasn’t seen any game action since last season.