Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Radko Gudas is back for Joel Quenneville tonight, and the Maple Leafs are already staring at March 30 in Anaheim.
Gudas has served the 5-game suspension handed down after the kneeing incident on Auston Matthews, and he’s eligible to return against Vancouver on Tuesday, March 24.
For Anaheim, this is bigger than getting a rugged blue-line piece back into the lineup.
The Ducks are 39-27-4 and sitting on top of the Pacific, so Quenneville gets his captain back for a stretch drive that suddenly has a lot more heat around it.
For Toronto, the date that matters now is Monday, March 30. That’s when the Leafs visit Anaheim, and there’s no chance that room has forgotten what happened on March 12.
Matthews is out for the rest of the regular season with a grade 3 MCL tear and a quad contusion in his left leg.
That changed Toronto’s season on the spot and turned the rematch into one of the most charged games left on the schedule.
Craig Berube didn’t hide from it after the hit.
He said his club should have had four guys in there right away, which tells you this isn’t just about losing a star scorer. It’s also about how the Leafs answered in the moment.
Toronto already has enough pressure without this hanging over the room. The Leafs are 29-29-13, and Matthews finished this season at 53 points in 60 games before the injury shut him down.
March 30 just got a lot louder for Leafs vs. Ducks matchup
Gudas coming back tonight means there won’t be any cooling-off period before that rematch.
He’ll be back in the Ducks’ room, back on their bench, and back in the middle of a story that still feels raw.
Anaheim can frame this as getting its edge back.
Toronto will frame it as unfinished business. Both things can be true, and that’s why next Monday feels less like a regular-season stop and more like a test of nerve.
The Leafs did beat Anaheim 6-4 the night Matthews got hurt, but that score barely matters now.
The bigger takeaway was the fallout: Matthews gone, Gudas suspended, and Berube publicly calling for a stronger response.
So yes, Gudas is back. And the moment everybody in hockey circled the second the suspension was announced is now one week away.
When Toronto hits Anaheim on March 30, the puck drop won’t be the whole story. The real story is whether the Leafs answer the way Berube demanded after losing their captain.
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Radko Gudas returns as Leafs circle heated Ducks rematch after Matthews injury
Will the Maple Leafs answer Radko Gudas physically on March 30 ?