VANCOUVER, British Columbia — The Ducks lost a game and one of the players who has been the backbone of their season.
Starting goaltender John Gibson left midway through the second period of the Ducks’ 3-2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday night after he suffered a lower-body injury in a collision in the crease with Canucks winger Drew O’Connor.
Gibson – the subject of trade rumors with Friday’s league-wide deadline fast approaching – stopped 19 of 21 shots before leaving with 6:12 left in the second, and Lukas Dostal made 14 saves in relief.
Jake DeBrusk, Teddy Blueger and Carson Soucy scored second-period goals for Vancouver. Filip Hronek had two assists and Kevin Lankinen made 14 saves for the Canucks, who had lost two in a row and four of five.
Sam Colangelo scored for the second straight night and Brian Dumoulin also scored for the Ducks, who were coming off a 6-2 road win against the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday.
The Ducks struggled to keep up with the Canucks across the first period. Vancouver outshot the visitors 17-5 in the opening frame, but they still grabbed the lead on Colangelo’s goal.
The Ducks had been outshot 14-2 when Colangelo scored at 13:21 of the first. Cutter Gauthier sent a waist-high point shot toward Colangelo, who lifted his stick and deflected the puck over Lankinen’s shoulder and across the goal line.
Gibson stopped all 17 shots in the first period, including a highlight-reel behind-the-back glove save.
DeBrusk capitalized on Vancouver’s third straight power play to start the game, taking a pass from Brock Boeser and lifting the puck into the net to tie it 1-1 at 1:05 of the second period.
Blueger gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead at 10:33 when his wrist shot from the top of the right circle glanced off Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe and past Gibson on his short side.
O’Connor collided with Gibson on a drive to the net to draw a goaltender interference penalty, but the Ducks failed to capitalize on the power play.
Soucy then scored with a one-timer from the top of the right circle with 1:09 left in the second period to stretch the lead to 3-1.
The Ducks challenged for goaltender interference because Canucks winger Kiefer Sherwood was in the crease, but officials determined after a lengthy review that a Ducks defender caused the interference and the goal stood.
The Ducks cut it to 3-2 at 13:27 of the third when Dumoulin scored a rebound while cutting through the slot.
UP NEXT
The Ducks begin a three-game homestand against the St. Louis Blues on Friday night.