Livescore
The Anaheim Ducks entered the 4 Nations break with a .500 record (24-24-6). A significant amount of credit can be assigned to the guy in the crease every night, whether it be sophomore Lukas Dostal or 500-game veteran John Gibson.
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Despite their surge heading into the break, the Ducks are allowing the most shots on goal per game (32.2) in the NHL, the most shot attempts per 60 minutes at 5v5 (66.94), and the most expected goal against per 60 minutes at 5v5 (3.01).
Their penalty kill has been just as poor, allowing a league-worst 10.06 expected goals per 60 minutes.
Offensively, the Ducks haven’t helped their netminders. They score a league-worst 2.48 goals per game, and their power play has only converted 12.1% of its chances (31st in the NHL).
The Ducks’ goaltending has kept them in every game they play and kept their season and their slim playoff hopes alive, as they sit sixth in the Pacific Division standings and nine points out of the second wild card spot.
Gibson (31) required an emergency appendectomy during the Ducks’ 2024 training camp and was forced to miss the first four weeks of the season, making his debut on Nov. 10.
With Gibson out, Dostal (24) started 11 of the Ducks’ 13 games in that span. Since then, it’s been a fairly even split, with Gibson receiving 22 starts and Dostal 19.
“It’s a nice dynamic,” Ducks head coach Greg Cronin said. “Gibby can give (Dostal) some feedback that he may not get with a younger goalie, and (Dostal) can watch (Gibson) play and pick up some tabs from him. So, it’s a really cool dynamic to have.”
In his 32 total appearances, Dostal has started 30 games. He has a 15-13-4 record, a .911 SV% (13th in the NHL among goalies with at least 20 starts), has saved 20.2 goals above expected (fourth in the NHL), and .65 goals above expected per 60 minutes (fourth in the NHL).
“When you have young teams, the only way they’re going to get better is through repetition,” Cronin said of Dostal. “We don’t have a lot of practice time in this division, which is tough. So, (Dostal) has to get his reps in. You’ll see him on the ice quite a bit, pregame skates, days off. He’s out there.”
In his 23 appearances this season, Gibson has started 22 games. He has a 9-9-2 record, a .915 SV% (eighth in the NHL among goalies with at least 20 starts), has saved 14.6 goals above expected (seventh in the NHL), and has saved .69 goals above expected per 60 minutes (third in the NHL).
“He’s so calm. When you have a goalie that’s got that calmness, it kind of has a domino effect on he team,” Cronin said. “He’s having a great year. I’m happy for him.”
The main factor working against Dostal and Gibson when it comes to their Vezina chances is that it’s Connor Hellebuyck’s award to lose. Hellebuyck starts over 75% of Winnipeg’s games, the team that sits atop the NHL standings. He has a 34-7-2 record, a .925 SV% (first in the NHL), and has saved 27.8 goals above expected (first in the NHL).
The factor that may prevent either from a nomination could be that they’re in an even, 50/50 tandem. Goaltenders near or around them in statistical categories like Joey Daccord, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and Mackenzie Blackwood are all their team’s clear-cut number one starter.
The Ducks have the NHL’s best goalie tandem and if they can continue to play near the level of their first 54 games, if the defense can limit the amount of dangerous shots they see, and if the offense can produce at closer to a league-average rate, they should find themselves climbing closer to a wild card spot.
These Vezina-caliber seasons don’t come around often, and to have two goaltenders playing at this level is special. It would be a shame to see it wasted due to the team in front of them underperforming and unable to hold up their end of the bargain.
Several cup-contending teams would love to have the kind of goaltending the Ducks are getting from their dynamic duo this season.
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