Gibson makes 33 saves in return for Ducks in victory against Blues

ST. LOUIS --John Gibson made 33 saves to help the Anaheim Ducks to a 4-1 win against the St. Louis Blues at Enterprise Center on Friday.

Gibson returned after missing six games with a lower-body injury.
"He was obviously our best player on the ice," Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. "Just a great, great performance by Gibson. He's got a great feel for the game.
"He lights up the bench. He put on a performance like no other. It was not only inspiring but also comforting to know you've got that level of goalie in your net. We played very well in front of him. When we tightened up there in the second period, he stayed relaxed and kept a smile on his face. He kept the puck out of the net. That's what we need from Gibson."

Sam Steel, Max Jones, Derek Grant and Rickard Rakell scored for the Ducks (10-19-6), who had lost three in a row and seven of eight.
Anaheim defeated St. Louis for the first time in five games this season, and for the first time since Nov. 16, 2019. The second of the two-game set will be played here Sunday.
Ryan O'Reilly scored, and Jordan Binnington made 20 saves for the Blues (16-13-5), who have lost six in a row at home.
Binnington played both games of a back to back. He made nine saves in a 2-0 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Thursday.
The Blues have scored 10 goals in the past seven games and are 2-5-0.
"I brought it up the other night, it's traffic. We need more traffic," St. Louis coach Craig Berube said. "We need to go to the net harder. You've got to make it more difficult on the goalie than we are right now. We're getting good quality, lots of quality, but it's two nights in a row where the goalie outcompeted us. That's kind of how I look at it."

Steel gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead 2:23 into the second period when Jakob Silfverberg's pass into the crease caromed off Steel's skate.
Jones made it 2-0 at 19:07 off a Torey Krug turnover when his clearing attempt caromed off Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf.
"Yeah, that's a tough play by me," Krug said. "I've got to make that, especially for our team. We were rolling there, so I'll take ownership on that.
"Just got to be better. If you want to be a player that's relied upon in big situations in this league, and especially on this team, a good team, you've got to step up when you're called upon, so I've got to make a better play there."
O'Reilly cut it to 2-1 at 10:50 of the third period when he scored from the slot on a delayed penalty with an extra skater on the ice. The Blues hadn't scored in 144:08, since a Vince Dunn goal at 6:42 of the second period in a 5-1 loss at the Vegas Golden Knights on Monday.
Grant's empty-net goal at 18:57 made it 3-1, and Rakell scored into an empty net at 19:55 for the 4-1 final.
"We did some good things," Steel said. "We stuck together and came up with two points. It was nice."
NOTES: Ducks defenseman Jamie Drysdale sustained an upper-body injury in the first period. There was no update postgame. ... This was Anaheim's first regulation win since Feb. 11. ... Blues forward Tyler Bozak had four shots playing 10:41 after missing three games with an upper-body injury. ... The Blues won six straight regular-season games against the Ducks dating to Jan. 13, 2020.