Recap: Ducks Down Defending Champs 5-1 at Honda Center

The Ducks secured maybe their best win so far of the 2021-22 season, a 5-1 victory over the two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning tonight at Honda Center.
NHL GAMECENTER | PHOTO GALLERY

All-Star netminder John Gibson stopped 32-of-33 shots to register his 13th win of the season. Gibson ranks fourth among NHL goalies in saves and sixth in minutes played. The ninth-year pro owns a .947 save percentage (195-206) and a 2.21 goals against average in his last six starts.
Derek Grant scored twice to ignite the Ducks offensively, his fourth career multi-goal game. Vinni Lettieri, Kevin Shattenkirk and Nic Deslauriers also scored for Anaheim.
"They're obviously a good team with a lot of firepower, and we knew it was going to take a team effort," Grant said. "We hadn't played our best as of late, so it was a full team effort tonight. We did a great job."
The Ducks welcomed back franchise legend Corey Perry to Honda Center tonight for the first time as an opposing player. Perry played 988 games for the Ducks from 2005-19 and ranks among the top five in nearly every offensive category in Anaheim's record books.
"It was fun," Gibson said of facing his longtime teammate. "I was with him for so many years. We always went back and forth. It brought back the old times of being at practice having fun with each other and competing against each other."
"To play in front of these fans again, it was pretty special," Perry said. "This was home for 14 years and to come back, and obviously it didn't go the way we planned, the way I wanted it to, but it was an emotional day and glad that one is out of the way."
The win also marked the first career NHL coaching victory for Ducks assistant coach Mike Stothers, who filled in for Dallas Eakins (COVID-19 protocol) behind Anaheim's bench tonight. Stothers has worked in the NHL, AHL, OHL and WHL since beginning his coaching career in 1991.
"I thought we played a real good game. I think everybody really raised their level," Stothers said. "I think it was really sprinkled throughout the lineup. It started with Gibby (John Gibson) in net and works its way out. I couldn't be more impressed or happy with the guys the way they rallied and stuck together. It was a pretty good hockey game against a real good hockey club."
Again facing one of the NHL's premier offensive clubs without their top shutdown pair of Cam Fowler and Josh Manson, the Ducks turned in another stellar defensive effort, with plenty of help from Gibson. Anaheim held Tampa to a lone goal, the first time the Bolts haven't scored at least twice in a game since Dec. 11.
"There's going to be people in and out of the lineup, whether it's coaches or players," Gibson said. "It is what it is. With every lineup at the night of the game, that's what we're going to go in with and we have confidence in, and we'll play together."
The win moved Anaheim into second in the Pacific Division by points (20-16-7, 47 points) and fourth by point percentage (.547).
The Ducks came out, for lack of a better word, flying in the first period, outshooting the Lightning 18-7 in the opening frame.
Grant notched the game's first goal midway through the opening frame with a perfectly placed shot off the rush, beating Tampa Bay netminder and former Vezina Trophy winner Andrei Vasilevskiy with a wrister under the glove, off the far post and in.

Isac Lundestrom and Hampus Lindholm each collected their 11th assist of the season on the game's opening goal.
It appeared Anaheim would maintain that one-goal advantage into the first intermission, but Shattenkirk beat the first period buzzer to double the lead, racing to the slot and burying a rebound opportunity. Greg Pateryn took the initial shot, collecting a pass from Sam Carrick and wiring a low shot that Vasivelskiy couldn't handle, conceding a big rebound that Shattenkirk slammed home for his seventh goal of the season.

Shattenkirk played one season in Tampa (2019-20), helping guide the club to its first Stanley Cup championship since 2005.
With the primary assist on the goal, Pateryn collected his first point as a Duck.
Anaheim pushed the lead to three with a power-play goal early in the second period, capitalizing on a miscue by Vasilevskiy. The Ducks won a faceoff to the netminder's right before setting up a one-timer for Vinni Lettieri in the same faceoff circle. Lettieri got all of his shot and as he did Vasilevskiy fell over in his goal crease, unable to corral the rebound on Lettieri's blast. Instead, the puck bounced directly to Grant on the doorstep, who swept it into the empty cage to give Anaheim a commanding three-goal lead.

All four of Grant's multi-goal performances have come in a Ducks sweater.
Jamie Drysdale recorded the secondary assist on the goal, his 15th helper of the year. Drysdale ranks second among rookie defensemen in scoring (3-15=18) and assists, and tied for second in goals.
Lettieri added an insurance tally in the opening minutes of the third, sniping a wrist shot through Vasilevskiy from the slot. With a goal and an assist on the night, Lettieri earned his first career NHL multi-point game. The 26-year-old has 4-3=7 points in 15 games this season.

Tampa Bay broke Gibson's shutout bid on a laser of a shot by Ross Colton, a one-timer hammered into the corner above Gibson's glove just seconds after Sam Carrick had returned to the ice from a tripping penalty.
Gibson did his best work of the night on a third-period Tampa power play, thrice shutting down one-time attempts by Lightning captain Steven Stamkos.
"I watched Gibby and heard a lot about Gibby, but you don't really appreciate what he does for a hockey club until you see him day in, day out," Stothers said. "We are a different team with Gibby in the crease."
Deslauriers capped the scoring with an empty-net goal, sealing Anaheim's 20th win of the season.
Anaheim begins a five-game road trip Monday in Boston.