"They're both big parts of our hockey club," said Ryan Getzlaf. "We dealt with a lot of injuries [at] the start of the season and throughout the year. The one thing we do have is experience with our young players. We're going to look to some of them to step up and fill some of those minutes."
Fowler finished the game on Sunday with four shots on goal and one blocked shot in 25:41 TOI. The 26-year-old blueliner co-leads Anaheim defensemen in points (32, with Brandon Montour) and has a +9 rating in his last 16 games. Fowler skated in his 528th NHL game on January 17 vs. Pittsburgh, passing Samuel Pahlsson (527) for eighth on the club's all-time games played list.
"We're going to have to probably move some [defensive] pairs around a little bit," said head coach Randy Carlyle. "There will be some mix and match on the backend, moreso than to say we're going to put one guy in and he's going to take Fowler's spot. That's not fair to the people vying for that position and are available to us. The best thing we can do is put a game plan in place and mix and match our pairs. Play the right way and do a lot of things we've been doing for long stretches."
Gibson stopped 9-of-10 shots before leaving Sunday's game due to injury. The 24-year-old netminder ranks tied for sixth among NHL goaltenders in save percentage (.926), ranks 10th in wins (31) and tied for ninth in shutouts (4). Since the All-Star break, Gibson is 14-4-2 and leads the league with a 1.95 GAA and .937 SV% (min. 20 games). Gibson is 6-1-1 in his last eight decisions with a 1.86 GAA and .938 SV%.
