The NHL Department of Player Safety announced Friday that Anaheim Ducks defenceman Radko Gudas will have a hearing for kneeing Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews.
The Leafs Nation’s Nick Alberga first reported on Thursday evening that the hearing is going to be over the phone, which was later confirmed by the NHL Department of Player Safety. What this means is that Gudas can’t be suspended for more than five games even though he has already received lengthier suspensions in the past, including a 10-game suspension in 2017 for slashing Mathieu Perreault in the neck.
Gudas stuck his knee out intentionally and clipped Matthews in the offensive zone during the second period. Matthews immediately crashed to the ice and was assisted off the ice by trainers after he was initially slow to get up while favouring his left knee. As a result of the hit, Gudas was issued a five-minute major and game misconduct. The Leafs ruled Matthews out for the remainder of the game with a lower-body injury, while Leafs head coach Craig Berube told reporters after the game that Matthews would be evaluated further on Friday.
“A dirty play. The league will obviously look at and see what the suspension will be or whatever,” Berube said of the hit. “We should’ve had four guys in there doing something about it, but it didn’t happen. But I thought they responded in the third. It was a good response there, but we all would’ve liked everybody to get in there right away.”
More troubling than the hit itself was the lack of an immediate response from the Leafs, as Berube alluded to. It drew heavy backlash from fans and media members alike, especially given this wasn’t the first time a hit of this nature went unpunished in the immediate aftermath. While the Leafs scored two goals on the ensuing power play, it was hard to ignore that their initial reaction was to skate idly.
It’s worth noting that the Leafs were able to up the physicality the rest of the night, including Easton Cowan fighting Jackson LaCombe after his hit on Nick Robertson in the third period. After the game, the three Leafs players who spoke with the media took responsibility for not immediately coming to Matthews’ defence.
“I didn’t have a good view of it, because the puck was going the other way, but it’s on me for not responding earlier to Gudas being there,” Morgan Rielly said. “It’s a dirty hit. I didn’t understand how bad he got him in the moment, but I take full responsibility for not being the first one in there or being in there quicker to respond.”
The Leafs have a back-to-back this weekend, facing the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday and the Minnesota Wild on Sunday.
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