Gibson makes 38 saves in return, Ducks hold off Blue Jackets

ANAHEIM -- John Gibson made 38 saves in his season debut for the Anaheim Ducks, a 4-2 win against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Honda Center on Sunday.

Gibson was unavailable the first 12 games after undergoing an emergency appendectomy on Sept. 25.

"I give credit to the guys," Gibson said of his teammates. "There's guys coming in early (to practice), staying after, shooting on me, helping me get the work to prepare to get back to game speed, so I felt pretty good as the game went on and it was a good team effort."

Brett Leason, Jackson LaCombe, Leo Carlsson and Isac Lundestrom scored for the Ducks (5-7-2), who ended a four-game losing streak (0-3-1).

Yegor Chinakhov and Kirill Marchenko scored, and Daniil Tarasov made 26 saves for the Blue Jackets (5-7-2), who have lost five in a row (0-4-1).

"It’s unacceptable," Columbus defenseman Zach Werenski said. "Enough with the moral victories. We’ve played well enough in a lot of games this year to win and we end up losing them, and that’s on us. We have to look ourselves in the mirror and find a way to win hockey games. I don’t care if we outshoot them 50-20 or we get outshot 50-20. At the end of the day, we have to find a way to get points in this League and win hockey games and we haven’t done it."

The fourth line for the Ducks combined to score the first goal of the game.

Tarasov made a save on a wrist shot from above the right circle by Ross Johnston, but the rebound went to the side of the net, and Cutter Gauthier made a backhanded centering pass to Leason, who swept the puck between the pads of Tarasov for a 1-0 lead at 3:13 of the first period.

Chinakhov tied it 1-1 at 16:16 with a one-timer from above the right circle that squeezed through Gibson's pads.

LaCombe put the Ducks ahead 2-1 at 4:22 of the second, chipping in the rebound of Radko Gudas’ one-timer from the point at the top of the crease.

"Guddy' had a great shot and it ended up in front and I just happened to be there," LaCombe said. "I think, for our game, it's just important to stay aggressive."

Carlsson made it 3-1 at 10:20 of the third period on a one-timer from the slot off a short pass from Brian Dumoulin.

Marchenko scored from the slot at 16:57 to cut it to 3-2.

Lundestrom scored an empty-net goal for the 4-2 final with 1:40 remaining.

The Blue Jackets finished with 42 shots on goal, 15 others that missed the net and had 21 blocked.

"Goal-scoring is funny, it goes in streaks," Columbus coach Dean Evason said. "A few weeks back, we couldn't miss and the pucks were finding their way in and we were getting some bounces and good stuff. And now it's gone the other way a little bit, but there's nothing we can do about it now except move forward and keep doing those things to get those opportunities."

NOTES: The Blue Jackets killed both penalties by the Ducks and have not allowed a power-play goal to Anaheim in their past 16 meetings, killing 41 straight penalties. ... Werenski played in his 500th NHL game, becoming the fourth defenseman in team history to reach the milestone. ... Blue Jackets defenseman Jack Johnson played in his 1,200th NHL game, joining Anze Kopitar, Marc Edouard Vlasic, Andrew Cogliano and Sidney Crosby as the fifth player from the 2005 NHL Draft class to reach the milestone. ... The Blue Jackets claimed defenseman Dante Fabbro on waivers from the Nashville Predators on Sunday. Fabbro will join the Blue Jackets for their next game at the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday. ... The Ducks have won nine of their past 11 against the Blue Jackets (9-2-0). ... Carlsson tallied his third game-winning goal of the season, tied for second in the NHL. ... Leason, who had been a healthy scratch the previous three games, entered the lineup in place of Mason McTavish, who was a game-time decision with an undisclosed injury. ... Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler skated in pre-game warmups, but missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury.