All the attributes that made Ducks goalie John Gibson such a major hockey prospect came to life in his 38-save shutout of the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old rookie's rapid reaction time and focus on the puck led the Ducks to a 1-0 victory, which was Anaheim's first shutout win at United Center in eight years.
Early in the third period, Gibson showed all of his skill in one memorable save, watching a pass slide to Chicago's leader Jonathan Toews, the two-time Stanley Cup champion left alone to face a wide-open net, poised to beat the kid.
Instead, Gibson slid over and denied Toews.
"You see 'em wide open, you try to get something in front of it," Gibson said. "I knew he was going to one-time it. Luckily enough, it hit me."
Gibson not only erased doubts about his NHL readiness created by the season-opening 6-4 loss in Pittsburgh, he performed well before a road crowd of 21,233 to raise expectations of what else is possible.
"When he made that save, I said, 'Nothing's getting by him tonight,' " Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said. "You knew that was a moment … he was on his game."
About nine minutes later, the Ducks (8-2) broke the scoreless tie in short-handed fashion.
Forward Devante Smith-Pelly raced teammate Andrew Cogliano to a puck that skidded away from falling Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook in the neutral zone, collected it and poked it through the legs of rookie goalie Scott Darling with eight minutes 28 seconds remaining.
"Happy it squeaked through," Smith-Pelly said. "Me and Cogs' eyes both lit up. I'm not sure if I tripped him or not, but we both wanted it … [Cogliano] slipped."
From there, it was a matter of punctuating a showing Cogliano labeled "gutsy," as Anaheim opened a tough four-game trip exclusively against returning Western Conference playoff teams.
The Ducks out-hit Chicago, 37-16, and blocked 18 shots, including two on a penalty kill by leaders Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf in the final minute that iced the victory over the Blackhawks (5-3-1).
"We knew we had to do a lot of boxing out … blocking shots, that helped me to see the puck, not too many screens," Gibson said.
In the Ducks' first game without top defensive-pair member Ben Lovejoy (broken finger), the hole was effectively plugged from the start.
Lovejoy's replacement, Clayton Stoner, hit Chicago forward Jeremy Morin and lineup addition Mark Fistric knocked Blackhawks defenseman Michal Rozsival into the Ducks' bench in the first period for one of his five hits.
"If you don't hit them and slow them down, they're just going to skate," Boudreau said he told his team about the returning Western Conference finalists. "There's a lot of fast teams in the NHL. [Chicago] is the team that plays the fastest. That's why they have the most success."
Gibson saved 18 shots in the third period as the Ducks killed two penalties.
"He showed what kind of goalie he is. He was the main reason we won the game," Cogliano said.
lance.pugmire@latimes.com
Twitter: @latimespugmire
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