John Gibson is focused when he has to be as the Ducks defeat the Sharks, 1-0

John Gibson couldn’t help but smile when teammate Kevin Bieksa inadvertently ran into him in the crease and knocked his mask off.

In the middle of a scoreless game against a rival, the image of a kneeling Gibson enjoying a light moment said it all. He has long been touted as the Ducks’ goalie of the future, but Friday was a reminder that his cool demeanor is ready for the present.

Gibson’s 23 saves set up a third-period shutdown by the Ducks in a 1-0 win over the San Jose Sharks at Honda Center.

The Ducks held the Sharks to two shots in the third. The last was a stop by Gibson on San Jose’s Brenden Dillon with 11 seconds remaining to preserve his second shutout in his past three starts and make Mike Santorelli’s goal stand up.

Nate Thompson was aware of Gibson from the World Championships earlier in their careers, so this latest stretch isn’t surprising.

“You could see it then,” Thompson said. “He was only 19 at the time. He didn’t have a heartbeat, in a good way. You could see it in the way he plays, and he was huge for us tonight.”

Gibson’s play has brought Anaheim’s goaltending situation to a head. He has played too well to be sent back to the minors, but the Ducks aren’t expected to carry three goalies much longer. Presumed No.1 Frederik Andersen is nearing a return from flu, and Anton Khudobin has been Gibson’s backup.

When it was mentioned that Gibson doesn’t seem to want to go back to the minors in San Diego, Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau said, “Probably not. It’s a beautiful city, but ”

Boudreau gave high grades to his team for being able to curb the high-powered Sharks.

“For all the good games we’ve won in the last few years, that might have been our best third period as far as shutting teams down,” Boudreau said. “That’s a great hockey club with speed and a lot of goal scorers. To shut them down was pretty impressive for me.”

Santorelli finished a cycle play by the fourth line in the third. Thompson sent a pass from behind the goal line and Santorelli beat Sharks goalie Martin Jones on the glove side 2:49 into the period.

Gibson made 21 saves through two periods. He kept it scoreless going into the third with a save on San Jose defenseman Brent Burns, who made a toe-drag move around Rickard Rakell for an clean look. Gibson made a left-pad stop on Patrick Marleau during a San Jose power play during the first.

“We know if we play like that we’ll win a lot more games than we’ll lose,” Gibson said. “I think we’ve just got to play like that more consistently.”

Fowler passes Niedermayer

Cam Fowler passed Scott Niedermayer for fourth in all-time games played by Ducks defensemen at 372. It’s an impressive note given that Fowler turns 24 on

Saturday and it was only five years ago that he lived with Niedermayer and his family during his rookie season.

“It’s gone by so fast I can’t believe it,” Fowler said.

Niedermayer, a Ducks special assignment coach, played five seasons with the Ducks and it seems like more because he’s so synonymous with Anaheim’s run to the 2007 Stanley Cup.

“It seems like he’s been a part of Anaheim’s legacy for a long time,” Fowler said.

Follow Curtis Zupke on Twitter @CurtisZupke