Detroit Red Wings
The Daily: Look at Gibson’s Numbers Now; Max Leads NCAA by Four
John Gibson’s .902 save percentage is a testimony to how far he’s come in the past 40 days.
On Nov. 28, he gave up five goals in a loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning. When the game was over, he had a record of 4-7-1 and a save percentage of .870. In those first 13 appearances, he posted a save percentage below .900 10 times. That included one loss to Chicago when he was .789, plus a .615 save percentage in a 5-1 Opening Night loss to the same Habs team he blanked on 27 saves Saturday in Montreal.
Since Dec. 2, Gibson is 12-2 with three shutouts and a save percentage of .931. Gibson is currently on a run of five consecutive starts with save percentage above .919. The NHL’s average save percentage is .897. His ability to escape his save percentage nightmare illustrates how well he has performed.
The Red Wings traded for Gibson because they were weary of having goaltending at the bottom of the league in save percentage. Gibson came with a .911 career save percentage as a standard feature.
John Gibson has been rock solid for the Red Wings as of late 💪 pic.twitter.com/qsCyXeF8de
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) January 11, 2026
Today, if you start reviewing several reasons why the Red Wings are leading the Atlantic Division he is at the top of the list.
The Pittsburgh native has rediscovered the confidence he displayed when he was at his best with the Anaheim Ducks.
“He really has,” Detroit captain Dylan Larkin said after Detroit’s 4-0 win in Montreal. “His record speaks for it and his demeanor speaks for it. He’s calm. Even when things weren’t going well, he felt like it was going to turn and good on him…a veteran guy that doesn’t get too high, doesn’t get too low and stuck with it and believed in himself. And our whole team is getting a confidence boost from him when he’s in the net.”
Red Wings In Case You Missed it
Coach Todd McLellan’s Red Wings reclaimed first place in the Atlantic Division with a 4-0 win against the Montreal Canadiens.
Veteran James van Riemsdyk plays the role of Batman as he enters Bell Centre to let his son know he’s thinking about his on his birthday.
Max Smith looks at what’s behind the McLellan’s decision to shake up the Red Wings Lines. It has certainly paid off
Red Wings Extra
Since moving into the Red Wings’ No. 2 center role, Andrew Copp has played some of the best hockey of his career. In addition to putting up 17 points in 19 games, he’s been one of the team’s most complete players. In the game against Montreal, Copp showed a goal, an assist, a plus-2 plus-minus, one hit, three blocked shots and was 11-6 (65%) in the faceoff circle. . . Carter Bear (13th, 2025) put up a goal and an assist in the Everett Silvertips 4-1 win against the Prince George Cougars. He has 29 points in 25 games this season. . . Minnesota-Duluth’s Max Plante (47th, 2024) registered two goals and two assists in Minnesota-Duluth’s 8-4 win against Lindenwood. According to Quant Hockey, Plante now has a four-point lead (36-32) over Cruz Lucius for the NCAA scoring lead.
Carter Bear(1st round’25)
Snipe🚨#LGRW pic.twitter.com/ZupZzrK3U4— Red Wings Prospects (@LGRWProspects) January 11, 2026
Hockey Now Network
New Jersey: James Nichols explains the mess that is the Devils. Insider Elliotte Friedman revealed that Dougie Hamilton rejected an offseason trade that would have sent him to the San Jose Sharks. His agent, J.P. Berry criticized the Devils and said Hamilton is willing to work with the team on a trade. New Jersey Devils.
Philadelphia: William James’ take is on why the Flyers collapsed against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Philadelphia Flyers.
Pittsburgh: Dan Kingerski analyzes what went wrong for the Penguins in a disappointing loss to the Calgary Flames. Pittsburgh Penguins.
New coach to start the season. New goalie. Both are exceeding expectations. I guess we didnt have to trust in the process!
This is part of the process.
Solid goaltending. The man is keeping the team in games and stealing games. Certainly helps to have a real NHL coach behind the bench. Just wondering how much leash they’re going to give to the Kasper experiment. He has to play 30 some more games in the NHL before he would have to go through waivers. Right now at this point and until those games are played, he’s waiver exempt.. Usually when players go through slumps, and this is Way beyond calling it a ‘slump’ , players would be getting chances. Kasper’s positioning is so poor he’s not even getting chances. That being said thank goodness Gibson had come around. Good move by the general manager.
Max Bultman pointed out that Kasper had a good game. Hopefully, he finds success and moves back to where he was before.
I wonder if the Red Wings try and trade for Hamilton, Anderson or some forward? Do the Red Wings wait until the TDL? Sounds like NJ is not going to play Hamilton. Will that mean he wants out quicker? No sense of sitting around.
Lol, what type of fans actually do not want their team to do better. Oy vey!
Hello Fans of the Winged Wheel Warriors,
The time is now!
Gibson is firing on all cylinders but because of his age and history the team would be better served to not put all the weight of goaltending on his shoulders and give him the rest he so justly needs and deserves.
However, his counterpart, Cam “The Sieve” Talbot does not have the skills to keep us in the game at the level we need to sustain our goals of getting back into the hunt for the Cup.
The second oldest goalie in the league looks like the oldest and slowest in the entire league. We need Cossa brought up right now before the Olympics deadline. He’s not going to play for Team Canada but if we have nine (9) games we can use him for before waiver issues go into affect let’s get this guy up here.
We have a total of twelve (12) games remaining before the Olympics break we need to get this kid up here and get some NHL games under his belt then put him back with the Griffins during the break.
TM needs to pick three games out of the twelve that we can potentially survive with “The Sieve” in net and bring Cossa in for the remaining games before the break to get him tuned up for a run for the Cup. After the break bring Cossa up full time and then lose Talbot at the trade deadline on March the 6th. (that’s if anyone wants his tired old bones)
If we have to depend on Talbot we will probably not make the playoffs and if we did, we’d never make it past the first round with this wheezer geezer in net.
Just my thoughts…
Go Wings!
PBB
Totally agree about bringing Cossa up. I think the Wings still have an open roster spot and the time has come to see if he can play in the NHL. He’s more than proven himself in the AHL. My biggest fear is that Gibson gets over used and his quality of play suffers as a result. Talbot has been mediocre at his best. I’m curious who TM starts in net tonight.
RW-Bill,
That’s my fear as well, we just keep leaning on Gibson and he will eventually fail.
We need to get this Cossa kid up here and see if he can give Gibson some relief.
Talbot is Toast…
Amen on this PPB