Red Wings goaltender John Gibson confirmed that he's no worse for wear after having to depart Thursday evening's game against his former Anaheim Ducks teammates.
While the Detroit Red Wings ultimately picked up two points against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday evening at Little Caesars Arena, there was cause for concern after goaltender John Gibson departed the contest following the second period.
Gibson, who had made 15 saves on the 17 shots he faced from his former Ducks teammates, had twice taken a shot directly to his mask, while also being side-swiped by a Ducks player late in the second period, causing him to tumble to the ice.
There was no official explanation as to why, but Gibson wasn't on the ice for the third period and was replaced with Cam Talbot, who took things the rest of the way as part of Detroit's 6-3 win.
Head coach Todd McLellan confirmed that Gibson was dealing with an upper-body issue and didn't elaborate further following the game, but the good news was that Gibson was right back out on the ice on Friday afternoon for practice.
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Afterward, Gibson himself confirmed that he was doing fine.
"Felt good today, no worse for wear," Gibson concisely explained. “Nothing to worry about."
Gibson would refer to a "couple headshots" as the reason behind his departure.
"Just a couple headshots," he said. "Nothing really crazy."
McLellan then confirmed that the Red Wings won't anticipate any further issues with Gibson stemming from Thursday evening's departure.
“Really good sign," McLellan said of Gibson's presence at practice. "We anticipate him being okay.”
The former Ducks goaltender was on track to pick up the victory had he played the entire contest. It was his second game against his old club inside of two weeks, and it was going far better than the 5-2 setback he and his new Red Wings teammates experienced at Honda Center on Oct. 31.
Gibson was simply happy that the team as a whole picked up the victory.
"It was good, we got the win," he said when asked about his better fortune this time around against the Ducks. "Got back on track."
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