Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews was injured in the second period of Thursday’s game against the visiting Anaheim Ducks after taking a knee-on-knee hit from defenceman Radko Gudas.

The Maple Leafs, who beat the Ducks 6-4 for their first win since returning from the Olympic break, announced early in the third period that Matthews would not return with a lower-body injury. He will be re-evaluated on Friday.

Gudas, the captain of the Ducks, received a five minute major and game misconduct for the hit.

“It’s a dirty play. League’s going to obviously look at it and see what the suspension will be or whatever happens,” head coach Craig Berube told the media after the game.

Radko Gudas goes knee-on-knee with Auston Matthews. Gudas received a minute major pending review. Auston Matthews was down for a while but has gotten back to his feet. pic.twitter.com/Rxf6xIe1GH

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) March 13, 2026

John Tavares scored on the ensuing power play to tie the game at 3-3 heading into the final period. William Nylander scored early in the third period on the same power play to take the lead.

The incident happened with just over four minutes remaining in the second period when Matthews received a pass near the front of the Ducks net.

Matthews, who scored his 27th goal of the season earlier in the period on the power play, attempted to avoid a charging Gudas, but ended up colliding with the veteran blueliner, who was sticking out his knee.

Matthews stayed down on the ice for some time before being helped to the locker room.

Despite Matthews being in significant pain, the Leafs didn’t have a physical response in the immediate aftermath of the injury, something Berube was disappointed with.

“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,” he said. “It was a good response there, but we all would’ve liked everybody to get in there right away”

Will Toronto’s ‘lack of a response’ to Matthews’ injury help them moving forward? Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews left in the second period of Thursday’s game after a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim’s Radko Gudas. TSN’s Mark Masters has more on what is being said as a lack of a response to the hit, and how Toronto could take the situation to progress this season.

Leafs veteran defenceman Morgan Rielly shouldered the blame for not having an adequate response towards Gudas and the Ducks.

“It’s on me for not responding earlier to Gudas. 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,” said Rielly. “Myself and the other people on the ice have to take responsibility for not being in there earlier and I certainly do, but we came out in the third and played hard.”

William Nylander said he didn’t see the hit, but agreed he should have “jumped in.”

Nylander on Rielly taking responsibility: “There’s four other guys on the ice that can get in there as well. It’s a full team thing. We did that in the third & made them pay for what they did to Matty.”@TSN_Sports

— Mark Masters (@markhmasters) March 13, 2026

Gudas, a native of Czech Republic, was also the player that took out Team Canada captain Sidney Crosby in the Olympic quarter-final last month in Milan. Crosby was unable to return to the tournament as Canada fell in the gold medal game to the United States.

Gudas has a history of being suspended by the NHL Department of Player Safety. As a member of the Philadelphia Flyers, Gudas received a 10-game suspension for a slash across the neck of Winnipeg Jets forward Mathieu Perreault in November 2017.

He was also suspended six games in October 2016 for interference against Boston Bruins forward Austin Czarnik and three games for a headshot against Ottawa Senators forward Mika Zibanejad in December 2015.

Gudas was suspended again in 2019 for high-sticking Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov.

“It shows that you need passion, emotion in the game, to be successful. It really does. We all know that. And they played with passion and emotion in the third,” Berube added regarding Toronto’s victory.

The 28-year-old Matthews has 53 points in 60 games this season, his 10th in the NHL.

Gudas, 35, has two goals and 11 assists over 52 games in 2025-26, his third campaign in Anaheim.

With the win, the Maple Leafs improved to 28-27-11 with 16 games remaining in the regular season, sitting 11 points out of the playoffs.