John Gibson and 7 other goalies who’ve owned the Canucks

There hasn’t been a team in the NHL that John Gibson has enjoyed playing more than the Vancouver Canucks.

When the Canucks take on the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday night, it will mark the 14th time that Gibson has started a game against Vancouver. In those match-ups, he’s 10-2-1.

Sometimes, you simply have a team’s number.

It hasn’t helped that the Canucks have been an easy team to beat for a number of years now. That’s reflected in the fact that they’ve made life easy for far too many goalies.

35 active goaltenders have played at least five games against the Canucks. Of those netminders, 23 of them have bested the league-average .910 save percentage. Active goaltenders with at least five games against the Canucks have averaged a .917 SV%.

Many goaltenders have felt good about earning their paychecks against the Canucks, but these guys have been especially impressive.

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8. Jacob Markstrom

Record: 9 GP, 7-2-0

Stats: 2.47 GAA, .925 SV%, 1 SO

All nine of Jacob Markstrom’s career starts against the Canucks came last year, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s dominated against his former team. That being said, the Calgary Flames were mediocre in general last year, but that didn’t stop Markstrom from picking up seven wins in nine games.

7. Laurent Brossoit

Record: 6 GP, 4-1-0

Stats: 1.25 GAA, .959 SV%, 2 SO

You could argue that no current goaltender has owned the Canucks more so than Lower Mainland native Laurent Brossoit.

His small sample size (five starts) is what bumps him down this list. However, in six career games against the Canucks, Brossoit has only allowed seven goals.

The Canucks have struggled mightily against the Jets (4-15-1 in their last 20 games), and Brossoit’s stellar performance against his hometown team aided the Jets in their West Coast dominance.

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6. Martin Jones

Record: 14 GP, 10-3-1

Stats: 1.93 GAA, .937 SV%, 0 SO

One interesting thing to note about this list? Three of the eight goalies listed are B.C. natives.

Playing in your hometown usually goes one of two ways. You either cave under the pressure or you elevate your game to the next level.

The latter is certainly true for Martin Jones, who has a .937 save percentage against the Canucks, despite averaging a .909 SV% throughout his career.

5. Cam Talbot

Record: 17 GP, 9-2-4

Stats: 1.80 GAA, .938 SV%, 3 SO

It doesn’t matter which team Cam Talbot has played for, he always seems to beat the Canucks. He’s beat Vancouver while playing for three different franchises: the New York Rangers, the Edmonton Oilers and the Minnesota Wild.

Of course, most of Talbot’s dominance against the Canucks came while he was a member of the Oilers. With Edmonton, Talbot was 7-2-3 with a 1.68 GAA and a .944 save percentage against the Canucks.

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4. Frederik Anderson

Record: 21 GP, 13-3-5

Stats: 1.80 GAA, .938 SV%, 1 SO

Frederik Anderson broke into the NHL in 2013-14 — which was the beginning of the Canucks missing the playoffs seven times in nine seasons.

With Anaheim, Anderson was part of a Ducks squad that dominated Vancouver as the downward turn began on the West Coast. He went 6-1-3 with the stellar .954 SV% during his Ducks career.

He was only “great” instead of lights out against the Canucks during his career with the Maple Leafs, going 7-2-2 with a .925 SV%.

3. John Gibson

Record: 13 GP, 10-2-1

Stats: 1.77 GAA, .937 SV%, 3 SO

Whether it’s been Gibson or Andersen in for Anaheim, the Canucks simply haven’t scored many goals against the Ducks in recent years.

When Gibson faces off against the Canucks on Tuesday night, he’ll be looking for his 11th win against them in just his 14th start.

Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images

2. Carey Price

Record: 25 GP, 17-2-5

Stats: 2.26 GAA, .929 SV%, 3 SO

Whenever Carey Price suits up against the Canucks, Montreal is basically a lock to register at least a point.

Price has been phenomenal whenever he plays Vancouver. There has been an element of luck to his greatness though, because it’s almost hard to fathom that the Canucks have just two regulation wins against Price in 25 games.

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1. Connor Hellebuyck

Record: 14 GP, 11-3-0

Stats: 1.51 GAA, .949 SV%, 4 SO

Although Brossoit had added to the Canucks woes against the Jets, the main reason Vancouver can’t beat Winnipeg is because of Connor Hellebuyck.

The Jets netminder has four shutouts against the Canucks in just 14 starts. He trails Jonathan Quick (5) for most shutouts against the Canucks among active netminders. However, Quick has 41 career starts against Vancouver, compared to just 14 for Hellebuyck.