Sam Colangelo and Brian Dumoulin scored for the Ducks (27-27-7), who lost in regulation for just the third time in the past 10 games (6-3-1). Anaheim also lost starting goalie John Gibson, who saved 19 of 21 shots before leaving the game at 13:48 of the second period after getting hit by Canucks forward Drew O'Connor as he drove the net to try and redirect a cross-ice pass.
“I didn't really see it but the guy crashed the net pretty hard,” said Lukas Dostal, who made 14 saves in relief. “I hate to see that, because with John we're very good friends and I really admire him as a goalie, and it's just unfortunate.”
Anaheim coach Greg Cronin did not have an update on Gibson after the game.
“I didn't really see the collision,” Cronin said. “I didn't really even replay it, but he was obviously hurt so we'll figure out what's going on tomorrow.”
Anaheim was playing back-to-back games after a 6-2 win at the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday and got outshot 17-5 in the first period by the Canucks. But Gibson made a handful of tough saves and Colangelo gave the Ducks a 1-0 lead by deflecting a Cutter Gauthier point shot up and over Lankinen at 13:21.
“We weren't good. We didn't have a lot of energy. I thought they came out, they set the tone early,” Cronin said. “They had like 12 shots the first 10 minutes. Clearly they were charged up, they were waiting for us, and they dictated the pace of the game immediately."
The best of Gibson’s first period saves came off Brock Boeser on a backdoor one-timer off the rush at 1:06, getting across to get a piece of the in-tight shot with his left pad, then spinning around to catch the rebound behind his back.
“He's been playing so well,” Dumoulin said. “It's been amazing to watch him and the way he battles and competes. I feel for him, definitely hard having him coming out of the net. That's not easy, especially when he's playing so well.”