Ducks shut out Minnesota 1-0

JOHN GIBSON had 37 saves in goal for the Anaheim Ducks in their 1-0 win Tuesday over the Minnesota Wild (Photo by Bridget Samuels).

A first period goal and a first-class performance in goal led to a 1-0 victory for the Anaheim Ducks Tuesday night over the Minnesota Wild in St. Paul. Joseph Cramarossa scored his fourth goal of the season and John Gibson had 37 saves as the Ducks posted their 30th win of the season.

“I just battled. We knew it was going to be a hard game, and [we] just hung on,” Gibson said. “If you worry about the end result it’s not going to get you very far. We knew it was a big game. It wasn’t the road trip we wanted and we knew if we could end on a good note it would kind of build confidence and salvage the trip.”

The win lifted the Ducks’ record to 30-18-10, good for 70 points and second place in the NHL Pacific Division. The Ducks now can return to Anaheim on Friday to host the Florida Panthers (24-20-10).

RANCHO KICKERS SOLE SURVIVORS

The Rancho Alamitos girls’ soccer team was the only area team to survive CIF-SS playoff action on Tuesday. The Vaqueros defeated Fairmont Prep 6-0 in a Division 7 wild card game. They’ll advance to the first round on Thursday, visiting Rancho Mirage.

In girls’ water polo action, all three local teams lost. In Division 1, Santa Barbara beat Huntington Beach 4-2. In Division 7, Western defeated La Quinta 14-5 and Nipomo bested Los Amigos 13-4.