Gibson on a roll during 1st season with Red Wings 

DETROIT -- This is the John Gibson the Detroit Red Wings had in mind, a goalie who could help them make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in a decade.

The 32-year-old struggled at first after leaving the Anaheim Ducks via trade June 28. But he has won six straight starts, and coach Todd McLellan said he’ll start again at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, TNT, truTV, HBO MAX).

Since Dec. 2, Gibson is 15-2-0 with a 2.12 goals-against average and .926 save percentage. He leads the NHL in wins in that span. Among goalies who have played more than eight games, he ranks second in GAA, behind Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning (1.99), and in save percentage, behind Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders (.931).

He’s a huge reason Detroit is fighting for first place in both the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference. The Red Wings (30-16-4) are two points behind the Lightning (31-13-4) for first in the Atlantic as well as two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes (31-15-4), who are tied with Tampa Bay for first in the East.

“He was brought in to, not save the team, but give them an opportunity to make the playoffs, so that’s a different kind of pressure than he’s felt over the last few years,” said former Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood, now a TV analyst for FanDuel Sports Network Detroit. “I think once he got over all that and wrapped his head around what’s expected of him, now he’s been on a roll. He looks comfortable now.”

Gibson spent 12 seasons with the Ducks and played 506 games, the most among goalies in their history. He had 204 wins, two short of Jean-Sebastien Giguere’s Anaheim record.

It was time for a change after the Ducks missed the playoffs each of his last seven seasons.
Still, it was a big change when he joined the Red Wings.

“I would say this happened: He was in Anaheim. He kind of got stale. He probably wanted to move but didn’t, and then once it happened, it was a shock, so it took him some time to get adjusted,” Osgood said.

Gibson got pulled on opening night in Detroit. He gave up five goals on 13 shots in a 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 9.

Through Nov. 29, he was 4-7-1 with a 3.59 GAA and an .865 save percentage.

“I think any time you go from an organization you’ve been with so long, it’s kind of like a culture shock a little bit, right?” Red Wings goaltending coach Michael Leighton said. “You’re getting to know the players and how they play and how our systems work, so that can be an adjustment.”

Leighton said Gibson needed to learn each defenseman’s tendencies.

“He reads on what he thinks that D’s going to do and how he should play that situation,” Leighton said. “He’s all about reads and reading the play in front of him and reading shots, so when he’s comfortable and confident in doing that, he’s a very good goalie.”

It has been a virtuous cycle lately. As Gibson has improved, he has played more often and gotten into a rhythm. He will start for the seventh time in eight games Wednesday.

The more confident he has become, the more he has communicated with teammates.

“His chest is sticking out,” McLellan said. “He feels better. I notice it the most during the games, TV timeouts, when he comes to the bench, and he kind of takes charge. ‘Hey, D-men, be aware of this. If I get it here, this is what I’m thinking. They’re looking backside.’ Just his interaction … around the players has gone up immensely. He’s now got leadership qualities too that took a little while to come to fruition, but it’s happening.”

Osgood said the team has played better in front of Gibson largely because of Gibson.

“I think the team was OK early, not great, but I do think everything started with him making big saves and playing great for the Red Wings,” Osgood said. “You saw the confidence build for them. … When you go on a run for that amount of time, it’s for real.”

Gibson makes it all sound much simpler. In an 82-game season, you’re going to have ups and downs. He had a bad start. Nothing’s changed.

“I’ve been doing the same thing for 13 years,” Gibson said. “I mean, obviously, sometimes it shows better than others or this and that. But I’m just going out there, competing and hopefully giving the team the chance to win every night. That’s all we can do.”

He knows he must keep it up too.

“I always want to be consistent night in and night out, and I wasn’t early in the year, and I just had to figure it out,” he said. “That’s kind of what it is. But obviously, there’s still a lot of season left, and we can’t be really sitting here satisfied. We’ve got to stay hungry and just keep doing what we’re doing.”