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 After the morning skate, he found out he was starting.
"I've been in some sticky situations in my career but that was
probably the hardest," he said.
LaBarbera made the most of the moment with 16 saves in an emergency
start, defensemen Hampus Lindholm and Cam Fowler scored less than
two minutes apart and the Ducks beat the Colorado Avalanche 3-2 on
Sunday night.
LaBarbera was called up from Norfolk after starting goalie Frederik
Andersen was bothered by lower-leg tightness Saturday and his
backup, Gibson, suffered a lower-body injury during the morning
skate.
"He came up a bit lame," Anaheim coach Bruce Boudreau said.
Goaltending consultant Dwayne Roloson served as the emergency backup
after getting clearance from the league.
It was LaBarbera's first win since Oct. 7, 2013, when he was with
Edmonton. He played seven games for the Oilers and his last NHL game
was Dec. 12, 2013 against Boston.
 He came into Sunday with little sleep after flying from Norfolk to
Denver through Atlanta. He was well tested after playing Friday and
Saturday night for the Admirals and winning both games.
Winning an NHL game on short notice capped an eventful weekend for
the 34-year-old journeyman.
"All of it is kind of goofy," he said. "I've been around a lot,
never had to deal with something like this. Luckily came out on the
right side."
Right winger Corey Perry had a goal and center Ryan Getzlaf had two
assists for the Ducks.
Center Nathan MacKinnon had his fourth goal in the last three games
and right winger Dennis Everberg also scored for the Avalanche,
which had earned at least a point in six straight games.
Goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who had 30 saves, was pulled with 2:26
left after Anaheim defenseman Francois Beauchemin was called for
high sticking. Colorado couldn't manage a shot despite a 6-on-4
advantage.
Early, it looked like the Avalanche would capitalize on Anaheim's
muddled netminder situation.
Everberg got things started with his first NHL goal 2:18 into the
game, but Perry tied it at 7:20 with his NHL-leading 11th goal.
Varlamov made the initial save but the rebound hit off of Perry and
over the goalie's shoulder, and it held up under review.
MacKinnon answered in the final minute of the first. He got the puck
along the boards, skated around right winger Devante Smith-Pelly and
beat LaBarbera on the far post to give Colorado a 2-1 lead.
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Anaheim dominated the second period on both ends of the ice. The
Ducks held Colorado without a shot until there was 4:30 left, and
the Avalanche finished with just two on LaBarbera. The last one came
from the neutral zone just before the horn sounded.
"We just played brutal," Avalanche center Matt Duchene said.
"There's no other way to say it. Two shots on a guy who obviously
got called up at the last second isn't good enough. We worked hard
in the third and had some chances. I think we should have come away
with a point tonight, force it to overtime."
Anaheim took advantage of Colorado's ineffective offense to take the
lead. Lindholm tied it with a shot from the slot at 6:04 of the
second and Fowler made it 3-2 just 1:44 later when he skated by an
Avalanche defender, went untouched to the front of the Avalanche net
and beat Varlamov.
"That third goal we were just lost," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy
said. "Jarome (Iginla) lost his position and it was an easy walk in
for Fowler.
"It was not a pretty period, that's for sure. And it's too bad. We
had a really good start, we scored that first goal and then we
stopped playing a bit."
NOTES: Avalanche RW Daniele Briere was a healthy scratch for the
third straight game. Briere, along with RW Jarome Iginla, was a
big-name free agent signed in the offseason. He has two goals in 10
games. ... Ducks D Bryan Allen joined the team in Denver and could
come off injured reserve in the next few days. ... Colorado G Semyon
Varlamov started six straight games since coming off injured reserve
because of a groin strain. Varlamov's 89 saves in consecutive games
late last week were the third most in franchise history for a
two-game span.
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