TORONTO _ Cam Fowler settled a duel between a current teammate and a former one.
Fowler slapped a blistering shot past Toronto goalie Frederik Andersen with 6:52 left in regulation, lifting the Ducks and John Gibson to a 3-2 win over the Maple Leafs on Monday night at Air Canada Centre.
Toronto forward Zach Hyman got caught with throwing a right hand to the back of Ducks defenseman Josh Manson's head, putting him in the penalty box for roughing. Fowler made the Leafs pay when he jumped on Ryan Kesler's faceoff win and ripping a rising shot over Andersen's left shoulder.
The goal made Gibson a deserved winner after a stellar 33-save performance to edge Andersen, who often starred with the Ducks over three seasons before being traded to Toronto in June. Andersen had 25 saves.
The former teammates shared the William M. Jennings Trophy last season for the fewest goals-against average and they were stingy for, particularly in the first half of the game. It took a degree-of-difficulty play by Auston Matthews to break through the stalemate.
Matthews made a huge splash with his remarkable four-goal game on opening night in Ottawa. The top pick of this year's NHL draft got his 15th goal with a superior move, reaching out with his stick to get a one-handed deflection past Gibson as Nikita Zaitsev threw the puck toward the net.
But the Ducks pushed on. The Ducks' second-ranked power play let several opportunities get away without much done but some friendly bounces made for a conversion in the second. Ryan Getzlaf's shot-pass skipped off Roman Polak and banked in off Morgan Rielly to tie the game.
Three failed power plays in the first had created an ominous sign. Not only did the Ducks generate little with them but Toronto forced Gibson to make some key saves, with Leo Komarov foiled on a point-blank try and Zach Hyman denied on a lunging left leg stop.
The Ducks managed just eight shots in the first despite having the man advantage for six minutes. But it stayed scoreless as Gibson was up to the task with 11 stops.
Early in the second, Ducks defenseman Kevin Bieksa left the game after getting struck in the mouth by a deflected shot from Toronto's Roman Polak. Bieksa managed to leave the ice under his own power but did not return, leaving the Ducks with just five on the blue line.
