ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Other than being soaked from a postgame shower from teammates, it was hard to tell after the Ducks' 2-1 victory over the Stars on Tuesday night that John Gibson had achieved a milestone.

The Ducks' veteran goaltender became the first netminder in franchise history to play 500 games.

It was another milestone in what could be a series of them for Gibson over the next couple of months.

He won his 200th NHL game Jan. 5 against the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tuesday's victory also leaves him four wins from tying Jean-Sebastien Giguere for the most in franchise history.

Gibson, though, tried to focus on the present instead of looking back at his career or any milestones still ahead.

"Tonight obviously was a little more special, so it's nice to get the win on top of it," Gibson said. "I was talking to someone earlier, I think it's something that I can be able to look back and reminisce on maybe towards the end of the career in the summer when you're with family and stuff like that."

He is the 10th American-born netminder to reach 500 games and the third active. The New York Rangers' Jonathan Quick has appeared in 797 games, and Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck has played in 547.

Gibson made 26 saves in what was a tight contest throughout. The only one that got past the 31-year-old netminder came early in the third period when Dallas' Colin Blackwell had a one-timer off a pass by Sam Steel to tie it at 1-all.

"He's played so much. He's so calm. When you have a goalie that's got that calmness, it kind of has a domino effect on the team," Ducks coach Greg Cronin said.

Trevor Zegras put Anaheim back ahead three minutes later, and Gibson made a couple of key saves in the final two minutes after the Stars pulled their goaltender for an extra skater.

"I mean, he's amazing," Zegras said. "I have been saying that since I got here: He is one of the best athletes and humans that I have been around, and to get to experience that moment with him and after the game was pretty special."

Gibson has spent his entire 12-year NHL career with the Ducks and has been the franchise's top goalie for most of the past decade, including three appearances in the All-Star Game. He struggled through last season, going 13-27-2 with a career-worst .888 save percentage.

This season didn't start off great either as Gibson missed the first 12 games after undergoing an emergency appendectomy.

Gibson and Lukas Dostal have split the netminding duties. Gibson though has started 22 of the 41 games since returning and is 9-9-2 with a 2.70 goals-against average and .915 save percentage.

Gibson's veteran presence will be counted on more down the stretch. The Ducks, who have not been to the playoffs since the 2017-18 season, are seven points out of the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference but have won five of six, including four straight at home. Anaheim has 52 points, which is 21 points ahead of last year's pace, when it finished with 59.

"He's having a great year. I'm really happy for him and I'm happy for the team. He's got a little bit of that mentorship going on with the young kids here and he's got a really good attitude," Cronin said. "I think Peter Budaj (who is in his first season as Anaheim's goaltending coach) has done an unbelievable job with him. The fact that Peter played in the league a long time, he can really drill in to John's game in terms of trying to make him own some things he can be better at. It has created a real good dynamic and I think he has benefited from that relationship."