That’s two Olympic stars now injured by Radko Gudas.
Maple Leafs and Team USA star Auston Matthews exited Thursday’s 6-4 win over the Ducks early after being hit by Gudas and will be evaluated Friday, according to Toronto coach Craig Berube.
Gudas, who played for Team Czechia, previously hurt Team Canada and Penguins star Sidney Crosby during the 2026 Games, with the lower-body injury sidelining Crosby for at least one month.
“That’s a dirty play,” Berube said. “League’s going to obviously look at it and see what the suspension will be or whatever happens.”
The “dirty” play happened with four-plus minutes remaining in the second period and the Ducks nursing a 3-2 lead when Gudas tried to stop Matthews in front of the net and the two banged kness.
Matthews, 28, hit the ice hard and immediately grabbed his left knee before rolling onto all fours and staying on the ice with his head down.
Boos rained down while Gudas exited the ice for his major penalty and game misconduct.
“Once again, trouble finding Radko Gudas,” the TSN announcer said.
Before the game, Gudas, 35, said the plan would be to disrupt Matthews.
“We got to be on top of him,” Gudas said, according to the Associated Press. “We got to make sure that he doesn’t get space in the middle of the ice … make his night’s not enjoyable.”
Matthews eventually exited the ice with help, and his night ended after 13:18 of ice time, during which he scored a second-period goal to cut Anaheim’s lead to 3-2.
Berube expressed displeasure that Matthews’ teammates did not stand up for him right after the contact, although they got the final laugh with with the win.
“Obviously, we should have had four guys in there doing something about it but it didn’t happen then, but I thought they responded in the third,” Berube said.
“It was a good response there, but we all would have liked everybody to get in there right away.”
Gudas will wait to learn if he receives a suspension, but this is now twice in a relatively short span that he has caused harm to his opponents.
His hit on Crosby during the Olympics sidelined the NHL legend for Team Canada’s semifinal win over Finland and finals loss to Team USA.
Those actions haven’t gone unnoticed.
“He’s done a few of those before in his career,” Maple Leafs forward Matthew Knies said, per the AP.
Toronto scored on the power play shortly after the penalty to tie the game and ultimately scored five straight unanswered goals to completely turn a game they trailed by two goals.
The loss hurt the Pacific Division-leading Ducks, who are in a tight playoff race, while the Maple Leafs need a miracle to qualify for the postseason.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
