Gibson giving Ducks chance against Sharks in playoffs

ANAHEIM -- John Gibson has rarely lacked confidence at any point in his career.
The belief the Anaheim Ducks goalie has in himself will be needed for Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center on Monday (10:30 p.m. ET; CNBC, SN1, TVAS2, NBCSCA, PRIME).

The Ducks trail the best-of-7 series 2-0.
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"I don't think it's ever a spot you want to be in," Gibson said. "But I think a lot of guys here have been around, been in situations before. We've got to fall back on that."
The Ducks lost Games 1 and 2 at home to the Edmonton Oilers in the second round last season and won the series in seven games. In 2016, they lost the first two games at home to the Nashville Predators in the first round and pushed the series to seven games before losing.
Anaheim trails in this series mostly because it has scored a total of two goals, and not because of Gibson, who has done his best to keep the Ducks in each game, with 31 saves in a 3-0 loss in Game 1 and 32 saves in a 3-2 loss in Game 2.
"He's given us a chance," coach Randy Carlyle said. "Again, it's our job to do a better job of defending people that are in the open spaces and boxing people out. Don't give them that second (chance) and backdoor tap-ins. You can't fault our goaltending because he's made a bunch of 10-bell saves in the series, in the first two games."
Gibson, 24, has been a rock for the Ducks all season, going 31-18-7 in 60 games with a 2.43 goals-against average, a .926 save percentage and four shutouts in the regular season. The 31 wins were an NHL career high.

Defenseman Josh Manson detected a shift in Gibson's attitude at the start of the season.
"He obviously is a pretty calm guy, unwavering, nonchalant," Manson said. "You picked up on the sense he was going to take over.
"It's something you feel about him. He wants to be in the game. Not saying he didn't want to be before, he definitely did. You can tell now. He's showing everybody, 'I'm here and I'm a key part and I'm going to play like this for a while.'"
If there was one point in the season when it was driven home Gibson was different, it came during a 3-2 overtime loss at the Winnipeg Jets on March 23.
Gibson made 39 saves, the primary reason the Ducks were able to get one point, and got his teammates' attention when he made it clear he wasn't happy with how they were playing in front of him.
"There are different times you say something here or there," Gibson said. "I like to go out there and let my playing do the talking. We have so many guys that have been around and leadership on the team. People do things in different ways. I try to just go out there and make sure I ready myself to play and bring it night in and night out."

Corey Perry said the Ducks took notice of Gibson's rare show of emotion.
"There was more than one guy saying something, but he spoke up in that Winnipeg game a couple of weeks ago," Perry said. "Obviously, we didn't play very well. He played his [butt] off and that got us to where we are today. Guys took note of that and really respected that."
Anaheim goaltending coach Sudarshan Maharaj viewed it as a young goalie asserting his leadership skills.
"The maturity of player happens," he said. "They have built up enough currency where they can occasionally voice their opinion both positively and negatively. It's a part of leadership too. It's not as welcomed when you're not carrying your weight."
One of Gibson's early goaltending coaches, Joe Exter, who worked with him with the United States National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan, said Gibson's confidence and focus were his biggest strengths even as a teenager.

"A lot of times, goalies are fighting wars with themselves," said Exter, now an assistant at Michigan State. "Gibby is able to let things happen, whether it's a big save, or letting in a goal, or facing any adversity, he just minimizes it and moves on to the next thing."
With time, Gibson believes people understand him better now.
"It's just how I've always been since I was younger -- I've always been kind of laid back," he said. "I think at first some people might think that you don't care.
"Now people understand who I am and everything like that. It's just how I am. I never get too high or too low. Stuff's going to happen, nobody's perfect. At the end of the day, I think, we're fortunate enough to play this game."
But the Ducks need to win some games now to keep their season going, starting Monday.
Maharaj said he has confidence Gibson can make it happen.
"Over my five years with Gibby, I've learned to never discount him," he said.