Anaheim Ducks captain Radko Gudas is suspended for the first time since 2019 and the fifth time in his career after kneeing Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews on Thursday.
Anaheim Ducks defenseman and captain Radko Gudas has been suspended for five games for kneeing Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews.
During the late stages of the second period between the Ducks and Maple Leafs on Thursday at Scotiabank Arena, Matthews received a pass in the slot, and Gudas skated over toward Matthews and initiated knee-on-knee contact. Toronto's superstar center got the worst of it, lying on the ice and flexing his knee in pain.
"In an attempt to make a defensive play on Matthews, Gudas leads with his knee, jutting it forward and making forceful, direct contact with Matthews, causing him to fall to the ice," said the NHL Department of Player Safety's video explanation.
Gudas was in control of the play, the video added.
"We acknowledge Gudas' assertion that he is attempting to make a full bodycheck and prevent a goal, but this contact cannot be excused as a play in which evasive or sudden movements by either player are the primary cause of the knee-on-knee contact," the video said.
As a result, Gudas received a five-minute major for kneeing and was ejected from the game with a 10-minute game misconduct.
The Maple Leafs will see the Gudas and the Ducks next on March 30 in Anaheim.
Matthews' season ended on the spot. He did not return to the game, and the Maple Leafs announced Friday evening he will miss the remainder of the season with a Grade 3 MCL tear and quad contusion.
"In light of the obvious severity of the play, I am disappointed and shocked the league would allow such a ruling," Matthews' agent, Judd Moldaver, told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman in a written statement. "A phone hearing and five games is laughable and preposterous. While the process is set in our CBA, that this was the discipline is reckless and ridiculous."
Gudas has a long history with the NHL Department of Player Safety. Before this occasion, the 14-year veteran defenseman had been suspended four times in his career, totalling 21 games missed, and more than $750,000 in salary forfeited, according to The Athletic's Chris Johnston.
That includes the 10-game suspension he served in 2017 as a member of the Philadelphia Flyers. This instance was from slashing then-Winnipeg Jets center Mathieu Perreault in the back of the head while he was down on the ice.
That said, the Czech blueliner hasn't been suspended since 2019.
Gudas has accumulated 1,102 penalty minutes in his NHL career, with 45 in 52 games this season.
He has registered over 100 penalty minutes in four different campaigns, with his last such season occurring in 2023-24 with 128 penalty minutes. The most he's ever recorded in a year was in 2013-14, which was his second season in the NHL with the Tampa Bay Lightning, and he put up 152 penalty minutes in 73 appearances.
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