Gudas returns, ready for an "intense game" against the Maple Leafs. Expect lingering tension from a controversial hit and a playoff chase clash.
Heading into Monday, the Anaheim Ducks have nine games left on their schedule as they chase down their first playoff appearance since 2017-18 and potentially their first division title since 2016-17.
They have a three-point lead and a game in hand on the Pacific’s second-place team, the Edmonton Oilers, who are surging, having won each of their last three games. Relatively, the Ducks have one of the easier remaining schedules in the NHL, but with how unpredictable the team’s play style is, taking two points for granted is a fool’s errand.
Per the league standings, Monday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs is a game the Ducks should win, as the Leafs are having their worst season since they entered their playoff-contending window in 2016-17. They have 75 points through 74 games this season, sit eighth in the Eastern Conference standings, and 24th in the overall NHL standings.
For the Leafs, they have eight games left on their schedule before their season will mercifully conclude. However, none of their remaining games will have the emotional charge as Monday’s against Anaheim.
The previous time the Ducks and Leafs met was on March 12 in Toronto, a 6-4 win for the Leafs that would be overshadowed by the events that led to and took place after their franchise player and captain, Auston Matthews, was forced out of the game after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Ducks captain Radko Gudas.
“I think it’s going to be an intense game,” Gudas said after Monday’s morning skate. “(It’s) one of the reasons I wanted to play. You know, address things.”
The hit caused a grade-three tear of Matthews’ MCL and a quad contusion. He’s since had surgery and will miss the remainder of the 2025-26 season. His expected recovery time is 12 weeks from March 19, the date of his surgery.
Gudas received a five-game suspension and returned to the Ducks lineup on March 24. Many questioned the NHL Department of Player Safety’s sentence, feeling that reckless of a play and severe injury to a star player deserved a longer suspension.
Another factor playing into Monday’s game that dates back to the seconds following the hit was the Leafs’ apparent lack of physical response to losing their captain in such a devastating way.
Typically, when a star player is seemingly wronged or is on the receiving end of a sizable hit, whether clean or not, the hitting player is typically forced to answer with pushes, face washes, punches, etc. from the other four skaters on the ice. Gudas didn’t receive such a response and left the ice unscathed.
“I don’t have a comment on this,” Gudas said. “It’s very hard for them to react. They don’t know what happened.”
The score at the time of the hit was 3-2 in favor of Anaheim. Toronto answered on the scoreboard with two tallies on the ensuing five-minute power play they were awarded, leading to them earning the two points, but still leaving many with a sour taste in their mouths.
The Leafs physically engaged Anaheim after and between whistles for the remainder of the game. However, many are expecting the physicality to continue and even ramp up on Monday when the two teams face off for a final time this season.
Typically, Gudas would be at the receiving end of much of the ire from the Leafs’ players, but many roster players, including the youngest and most talented, could face some of the repercussions as well.
“That’s another thing, standing behind my own mistakes,” Gudas continued. “I want to address it myself. That’s one of the reasons, 100%.”
Gudas sustained a lower-body injury in the Ducks in the second period of the Ducks 3-2 overtime victory over the Calgary Flames on Thursday, forcing him from the lineup for Saturday’s game against the Oilers. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported Gudas would play on Monday “no matter what.”
Gudas was a full participant in the Ducks’ morning skate on Monday and said he’s “good to play.”
It’s also been reported that the head of the Department of Player Safety, George Parros, will be in attendance in Anaheim for Monday’s tilt, in an apparent attempt to oversee what transpires throughout.