In Las Vegas Monday, the Ducks’ John Gibson sustained another injury and needed to leave the match with the Vegas Golden Knights after two periods of play.
Gibson was working a shutout when he sustained a lower body injury; he had 13 saves and a 1-0 lead working.
Ryan Miller entered the game in the third period and kept the shutout going with a 20-save effort in the final 20 minutes for a 2-0 Ducks win.
With the Los Angeles Kings winning Monday, the Ducks needed a victory over the Knights to stay in the third spot in the Pacific.
Jakob Silfverberg and Josh Manson struck for the Ducks’ goals.
“There’s been some good hockey in our end and we want to keep it going,” Miller said. “There have been some close games all the way through that we didn’t find ways to win. This one was the same, and we found a way to come through.”
Anaheim improved to 5-1-1 over their last seven games.
“[The Ducks] worked hard, had a gritty game,” Vegas head coach Gerard Gallant said. “The game plan they wanted to play was low shot totals, slow it down, goalies freezing pucks. I didn’t think we played with the same passion in the first half of the game.”
Vegas dropped to 39-16-4 with the loss.
“We’ve battled some injuries throughout the year, but for the second half of the season, we’ve had our full team,” Silfverberg said. “We’ve been picking up some steam here these last couple of games. Tonight, we played one of the best teams in the League and I think we played them real solid defensively and we didn’t give them enough chances.”
Anaheim improved to 30-20-11 and have been remarkable in their resilience this season given the injuries and their ability to patchwork a roster a times.
“That was a better game for us,” Manson said. “I think it’s one of the better games we played in a while. It’s something we’ve got to bring every game.”
[WATCH:Â All Ducks vs. Golden Knights highlights]
Marc-Andre Fleury made 18 saves in taking the loss.
“We outshot them, we were getting people to the net, and sometimes we just need a little bit more, and be a little hungrier around the net. I thought their goalies played really well too,” Vegas’ Alex Tuch said after the game.
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