In Anaheim, John Gibson was looking to get a fast start to the season and bounce back from a dreadful 2018-19 effort. On Thursday night, Gibson made 32 saves as the Ducks defeated the visiting Arizona Coyotes, 21
“It’s always nice to start the season off on a win,” Gibson said. “It’s a big, special night for us and our fans. It’s nice to give them a win. We just played our game. We came out a little bit slow, but I think as the game went on, we got stronger.”
Derek Grant and Cam Fowler struck for the Ducks’ goals.
“I thought we were OK defensively, obviously you’ve got to score goals. We had some chances, we had some good possession time, but it was sloppy, too many giveaways,” Coyotes head coach Rick Tocchet said after the game.
Fowler’s goal came with just 32 seconds left in the middle frame.
“Well, it’s huge,” Anaheim head coach Dallas Eakins said. “Any time you can get one of those late in a period like that, it’s such a great feeling walking into the room. I thought we had played much better in the second period and to get rewarded like that is big. We have asked Cam to get up the ice, and he was up, up, up the ice, and he made a great, great play on that goal.”
Derek Stepan scored the lone Coyotes goal.
“You know, I thought we played pretty well tonight,” Phil Kessel said. “We were skating, just one of those nights where we couldn’t get more than one.”
Kessel had an assist on Stepan’s goal.
[WATCH: All Coyotes vs. Ducks highlights]
Darcy Kuemper made 27 saves in the loss.
“I really liked our effort,” Kuemper said. “I thought the guys were really amped up, ready to play. Overall, I thought our structure was really good. It was just one of those games that was kind of tight both ways, and obviously the goal late in the period killed us.”
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