Recap: Gibson Backstops Ducks to Victory in Columbus

John Gibson made 33 saves and Rickard Rakell scored the shootout-winner, earning the Ducks a tight-fought 2-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at Nationwide Arena. The win extended Anaheim's point streak to six games (4-0-2). The Ducks have also earned points in seven of their eight contests and moved into a tie (15-8-5, 35 points) atop the Pacific Division (pending the conclusion of Calgary's game vs. Carolina).
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Gibson stopped 33-of-34 shots to earn his 11th win of the season. Isac Lundestrom scored the lone goal in regulation for Anaheim.
The game featured a special sibiling rivalry, as brothers Buddy and Eric Robinson faced off as opponents for the first time. The elder Robinson skated in his third game as a Duck, notching four hits in 9:57 of ice-time.
Eric Robinson helped Columbus take an early lead, feeding Alexandre Texier with a backdoor pass to put the Blue Jackets ahead just eight minutes into the action.
The younger Robinson has points in four straight games (1-3=4).
Anaheim tied the game on an impressive individual effort by Lundestrom. As the Blue Jackets tried to hold the puck inside the Anaheim defensive zone, Cole Sillinger jumped in the air attempting to catch a high backhanded pass by Gustav Nyquist. Sillinger couldn't corral the lob though, instead giving the bouncing puck up to Lundestrom, who skated into it for a breakaway from center ice. Lundestrom evaded the hard-charging Sillinger with a backhand move of his own, sliding his shot between netminder Elvis Merzlikins' legs to tie the game.

Lundestrom has seven goals in 28 appearances for Anaheim this season after scoring six goals over his first three NHL campaigns (71 games). The 22-year-old center has four points in his last six games (3-1=4).
Columbus appeared to reclaim the lead early in the second period when Zach Werenski danced around Jakob Silfverberg and wired a wrist shot by Gibson. Eakins quickly challenged the play for offside on the zone entry though and to Anaheim's good fortune, the linesmen agreed, wiping out Werenski's go-ahead goal.
Gibson played a terrific second period, making several key saves to keep the game level heading to the third. Anaheim's netminder made maybe his best save of the evening late in the frame, robbing Werenski alone in the slot with a right-pad save.
The tight checking game continued throughout the third period. Troy Terry had the best chance to break the deadlock in regulation with a spectacular shift spent almost entirely in the Columbus defensive zone, but the Ducks couldn't solve Merzlikins before the buzzer.
The overtime period was three-on-three at its best, back-and-forth action with plenty of scoring chances on both ends, but the five minute session would not be enough to find a winner. Rakell and Trevor Zegras buried their shootout opportunities and Gibson denied two-of-three Columbus shooters, capping his outstanding night and securing the Ducks 2-1 victory.
The Ducks continue their five-game road trip Saturday, playing the first half of a weekend back-to-back Saturday in Pittsburgh.