Auston Matthews was slow to get up after a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas. The Toronto Maple Leafs‘ captain managed to get back on his feet only to be assisted by a trainer to skate off the ice as the fans at Scotiabank Arena watched speechless. The Leafs have now confirmed Matthews will not return to the game, being ruled out with a lower-body injury, via @LeafsPR on X.
Matthews tried to pull off a risky move in close to the Ducks’ net. As he dangled his way around Gudas, the hard-nosed blueliner extended his left knee which made contact with Matthews’ left kneecap. Matthews instantly fell to the ice, where he stayed for a while.
Gudas has been assessed a five-minute major penalty for kneeing and a game misconduct for his reckless action. This incident puts the Czech defenseman on the spotlight once again.
Gudas had been involved in Sidney Crosby‘s knee injury during the Winter Olympics. This time, it was a knee-on-knee hit, which the NHL is very serious about, and thus it’s no wonder Gudas has been ejected from the game. Perhaps, supplementary discipline is in order.
Matthews had snapped his goal drought
Just when things started to look up for Matthews amid a disheartening NHL season, everything headed downhill once more. The Leafs’ skipper had been held scoreless in each of Toronto’s last 12 games. Matthews hadn’t found the back of the net since Jan. 27, when the Buds fell 7–4 to their cross–Niagara Falls rivals, the Buffalo Sabres.
Against the Anaheim Ducks at home, Matthews finally lifted the curse. His goal came exactly five minutes before Gudas hit him with knee-on-knee contact. Now, concerns have grown about Matthews’ health. Because of how dangerous knee-on-knee hits are, nothing can truly be ruled out until the Maple Leafs provide an update on their captain’s scary injury.