The Hockey News' Derek Lee previews the Ducks' matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Ducks have returned home for a five-game homestand, kicking things off with a matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Ducks are coming off a 4-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday, while the Maple Leafs are coming off a 5-1 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Saturday.
The big storyline ahead of this matchup is the fallout from Ducks captain Radko Gudas' knee-on-knee hit on Leafs captain Auston Matthews during their previous matchup on Mar. 12 in Toronto. Matthews was diagnosed with a torn MCL and ruled out for the remainder of the season. Gudas received a kneeing major and a game misconduct for the hit. He was later suspended for five games by the Department of Player Safety.
There was minimal reaction from the Leafs to the initial hit from Gudas, with several players later saying they wished that they'd reacted more strongly. Leafs head coach Craig Berube shared similar sentiments after the game.
It's no secret that Gudas has a large target on his back. The Leafs ramped up the physicality for the rest of that game against the Ducks, throwing hits every chance they could get. Despite suffering a lower-body injury in Thursday's game against the Calgary Flames and seen wearing a walking boot following the game, Gudas was a full participant in Monday’s morning skate and confirmed afterwards that he would play against the Leafs.
“You never want to watch your team play without you,” Gudas said. “Doing everything (I can) to play in these games.”
Gudas is expecting a tense atmosphere for this game, part of the reason why he wanted to get back into the lineup. He joked that he was “good enough to play” when asked how he would describe his health right now.
“I think it's going to be an intense game,” Gudas said. “One of the reasons why I wanted to play. Address things. Stand behind my own mistakes, I want to address them myself. That’s one of the reasons, 100%.”
Mar 12, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas (7) looks at an injured Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (34) after he delivered a knee on knee hit during the second period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images“It's hard to predict, but you anticipate a physical game,” Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said. “Both teams are probably going to come out playing hard, and that's what I expect. Let’s be smart about it.”
“Usually, when it's addressed early in the game everybody can—I don't want to say relax a little bit—but everybody knows the thing has been addressed,” Gudas said. “So I would assume something like that's going to happen again.”
“We’re not going to worry about just one player,” Leafs defenseman Morgan Reilly said. “We have to go out and play well. We have to improve off how we played in St. Louis. This is a trip where we want to win some games and so that's our focus here tonight, is to improve off our last game. and play a good, solid team game.”
“Just be hard on him,” Leafs defenseman Simon Benoit said. “I'm sure he's expecting it. Doesn’t mean I'm gonna take my stick and rip his head off. Just being hard on him. Those two points were important for them as well. So I think being hard on them, being physical and grabbing those two points from them could hurt, too.”
Mar 12, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Anaheim Ducks defenseman Jackson LaCombe (2) and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Easton Cowan (53) fight during the third period at Scotiabank Arena. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images“You don't want anything stupid happening, suspensions and things like that,” Leafs head coach Craig Berube said. “That doesn't solve nothing. Just go out and play the game with a lot of emotions, energy, be physical and be hard on their skilled players.”
“We’re a team, right? We're going to stick together no matter what,” Ducks forward Jeff Viel said. “And I think most important for us is the two points and it's a big two points coming down the stretch here. So that's what our focus is going to be. We’re just going to stick together.”
A game like this would be well-suited for enforcer Ross Johnston, who thrives when the physicality ramps up. But Johnston is currently out for another two to three weeks with a lower-body injury. Though Johnston is out, Viel doesn’t feel that there is an added responsibility for him in that department.
“Any time someone's hurt, it doesn't matter who, there’s a hole missing, right? So if that's what happens, then probably, yeah. I don't think I'm the only one (who does that). We’ve just got to stick together, everybody as a team. Just be ready.”
Troy Terry will play despite missing the morning skate, Quenneville said. Pavel Mintyukov, who missed Saturday’s game with a lower-body injury, will also draw back in.
Ducks Projected Lines
Chris Kreider - Leo Carlsson - Troy Terry
Alex Killorn - Mikael Granlund - Beckett Sennecke
Jeff Viel - Ryan Poehling - Cutter Gauthier
Mason McTavish - Tim Washe - Ian Moore
Jackson LaCombe - Jacob Trouba
Pavel Mintyukov - John Carlson
Olen Zellweger - Radko Gudas
Ville Husso (confirmed)
Leafs Projected Lines
Easton Cowan - John Tavares - William Nylander
Matthew Knies - Bo Groulx - Matias Maccelli
Dakota Joshua - Max Domi - Nick Robertson
Michael Pezzetta - Jacob Quillan - Steven Lorentz
Morgan Rielly - Brandon Carlo
Jake McCabe - Troy Stecher
Simon Benoit - Oliver Ekman-Larsson
Anthony Stolarz (projected)