Red Wings' John Gibson Pulled In His First Start With Detroit

Talk about a tough start, Detroit Red Wings goaltender John Gibson could not of had a worse debut.

The Red Wings were hosting the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday night, and unfortunately, Gibson couldn't stop a beach ball. The long-time Anaheim Duck was making his Red Wings debut and allowed five goals on 13 shots, before being yanked.

Gibson was replaced by Cam Talbot, who could push for the starter's crease this year if Gibson can't get his game on track. The Red Wings acquired Gibson from the Ducks in June for Petr Mrazek, a fourth-rounder, and a second-round pick.

🐙 John Gibson allowed 3 goals on 0.42xG in his first period for the Red Wings. (-2.58 GSAx) #LGRW
— NHL News (@PuckReportNHL) October 9, 2025

Gibson has two years left on his contract at $6.4 million, so yes, it's just one game, but talk about not starting on the right foot with your new club. The crazy part is the Red Wings opened the scoring under four minutes in when Dylan Larkin found the back of the net on the power play. From there, the Canadiens took over, starting with newcomer Zack Bolduc scoring half way through the first period to tie the game at one. It was Bolduc's second goal in as many games with his new team.

John Gibson getting pulled while rocking this ELITE setup should be a crime 😭

(📸: @NHL) pic.twitter.com/HujMryaoTa
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 10, 2025

From there, Oliver Kapanen, Mike Matheson, Alex Carrier, and Juraj Slafkovsky found the back of the net and the game was well out of reach. Let's see if Gibson can bounce back in his second start, or if he's going to give the Red Wings coaching staff a lot to think about early on this season.

For what it's worth, the Canadiens are expected to be a playoff team this year, meanwhile the Red Wings are headed for the lottery. Especially if their goaltender is this bad this season.