Radko Gudas ready for heated Ducks-Leafs showdown, Toronto insert Michael Pezzetta
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Daniel Lucente
Mar 30, 2026 (4:01 PM)
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Photo credit: © Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
Radko Gudas is back for Joel Quenneville, and that tells you this Ducks-Leafs rematch is headed straight for the boards.
Gudas didn't hide from it. He said he wants to "address it" himself tonight after the five-game suspension for the knee-on-knee hit that ended Auston Matthews' season.
"Stand behind my own mistakes, you know, I want to address it myself. That's one of the reasons [I'm playing], 100 per cent. That's one of those games where I have to play."
- Radko Gudas
- Radko Gudas
That matters because this game stopped being a routine late-season date the second Matthews suffered the Grade 3 MCL tear on March 12. Toronto has been sitting on that anger ever since.
And Gudas knows it. He said the Leafs are coming, which is hockey language for one thing: the temperature is already high before puck drop.
The Leafs definitely are coming as they have inserted Michael Pezzetta into the lineup tonight.
This is where the strategy changes. If Quenneville starts Gudas in a heavy first shift, Anaheim is basically accepting the emotional traffic and trusting its captain to survive it.
If Craig Berube's group lets that first window pass quietly, the whole league will notice. Berube already said the original response after Matthews went down wasn't good enough.
Why Gudas just raised the stakes
This is no longer only about remorse. It's about accountability in the oldest NHL way possible: show up, take the heat, and see what follows.
That can turn messy fast. Not staged. Not fake tough. Just a game where every finish, every net-front scrum, and every whistle gets a little more personal.
For Anaheim, that's dangerous hockey. The Ducks need Gudas on the blue line, but his decision also puts every teammate on alert for a game that can drift off script.
For Toronto, it's a test of identity. Matthews is out. The captain won't answer this himself. So somebody else has to set the tone.
That's why Gudas dressing tonight is the story. He didn't cool this game down. He walked right back into the fire.
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| POLL | ||
MARS 30|95 ANSWERS Radko Gudas ready for heated Ducks-Leafs showdown, Toronto insert Michael Pezzetta Will Radko Gudas have to answer physically in the first period ? | ||
| Yes | 82 | 86.3 % |
| No | 13 | 13.7 % |
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