TORONTO — Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews has a torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee and will miss the rest of the NHL season.
The team provided an injury update Friday night, a little less than 24 hours since Matthews was knocked out of a game against the Anaheim Ducks on a knee-on-knee hit from Radko Gudas.
The Leafs said Matthews has a Grade 3 MCL tear and a bruised quadriceps muscle and would be evaluated again in two weeks. The NHL suspended Gudas for five games for kneeing.
Gudas was given a major penalty and ejected.
“Dirty play,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said Thursday night.
Trying to make a move around Gudas in the slot in the second period of Toronto’s 6-4 victory, Matthews took a direct blow to his left leg and crashed to the ice. The U.S. Olympic captain stayed down before being helped to the locker room.
Gudas is the bruising Czech defender who ended Canadian captain Sidney Crosby’s Olympics in the quarterfinals with a hit.
“He’s done a few of those before in his career,” Leafs winger Matthew Knies said.
Gudas was asked following the Ducks’ morning skate about trying to contain Matthews.
“We go to be on top of him,” Gudas said. “We got to make sure that he doesn’t get space in the middle of the ice … make his night’s not enjoyable.”
Ducks coach Joel Quenneville defended his player.
“There’s no premeditation,” he said. “Reflexes did it.”
Matthews snapped a 12-game goal drought earlier in the period on a power play. He had 27 goals and 26 assists in 60 games this season.