Music: {allcanada} Gibson makes 37 saves, Ducks defeat Canadiens

Wednesday, March 4, 2015

{allcanada} Gibson makes 37 saves, Ducks defeat Canadiens

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ANAHEIM -- John Gibson made 37 saves to lead the Anaheim Ducks to a 3-1 win against the Montreal Canadiens at Honda Center on Wednesday.

Francois Beauchemin, Rickard Rakell and Cam Fowler scored for the Ducks (42-17-7), who are 7-1-0 in their past eight games and in sole possession of first place in the Western Conference (91 points).

The Canadiens (41-18-5) have been outscored 7-1 against the Ducks and San Jose Sharks to begin their four-game road trip. Goalie Carey Price made 31 saves and lost back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 5 and 6. Alex Galchenyuk scored with 1:41 left in the third period to ruin Gibson's shutout bid and end Montreal's goal drought at 120:51.

Anaheim has outscored its opponents 7-1 in two games since it acquired three new defensemen Monday before the NHL Trade Deadline. Gibson was the star Wednesday. He made 27 saves through two periods and highlighted the second period with a save on Max Pacioretty's shorthanded breakaway and another save on Andrei Markov. Gibson made 15 saves in the first period, with his best stop on Tomas Plekanec on a 2-on-1.

Rakell gave Anaheim a 2-0 lead in the second when he put in a rebound from the slot at 10:16. Former Canadiens forward Jiri Sekac, in his first game against Montreal, started the play with a big hit on P.K. Subban in the corner to set up the initial point shot from Hampus Lindholm.

Sekac, who had one point in his final 18 games with Montreal, has three assists in his first five games with Anaheim.

Beauchemin scored his eighth goal, tying a career-high, on a pretty finish of a rush at 6:31 of the first period. Kyle Palmieri brought the puck up ice on the left side and sent a pass that Beauchemin collected and scored on a shot off the left post.

Beauchemin has four goals in the past eight games.

Center Brian Flynn and left wing Torrey Mitchell each made his Montreal debut. Acquired on Monday from the Buffalo Sabres, they were on the ice for Anaheim's first two goals.

The Canadiens had not scored since David Desharnais' empty-net goal with 2:32 left in the third period of a 4-0 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.

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