The Maple Leafs finally get their shot at Gudas and there’s no excuse left not to answer for Auston Matthews
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
The Toronto Maple Leafs have another chance to make up for their lack of action to stand up for captain Auston Matthews.
Monday's game for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Anaheim Ducks gives the team a potential do-over to make up for the mistake of not taking retribution for their captain.
Auston Matthews was injured the last time the Leafs and Ducks played, having been taken out for the season by Anaheim defenseman Radko Gudas after a knee-on-knee.
The incident that caused Matthews to suffer a grade 3 MCL tear, leading to season-ending surgery. Gudas, who was suspended five games, has served his time and expected to be in the lineup for Monday's game against Toronto.
The Leafs, admitting they failed in not responding immediately to Matthews being injured, Monday may be the reclamation game they needed.
The Maple Leafs have no choice but to answer for the hit on their 13 million dollar star
After letting the second period against Anaheim go without retribution to Gudas, the Toronto Maple Leafs got their physicality in the third period. That may not be enough.
The Leafs felt they had to make up less for the Matthews injury, but that they didn't respond sooner, and had to prove something for their captain. They may still have more to prove.
Not having gotten it all out of their system, the chance that the Leafs start the game with a highly physical game that targets the Ducks wouldn't be surprising.
What will be interesting is how the Leafs respond to Radko Gudas. Will someone try to get a fight in with him right away? What may make that known is how the Leafs lineup, if they'll have their fourth line starting the game.
The suspension of Gudas was one that many across the league felt was lenient for a player like Gudas with a suspension history, meaning Toronto may take matters into their own hands as payback for their captain.
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The Leafs may have been playing better since Matthews was injured, but it was that lack of response that defined the Leafs season, without a fight.
Toronto, who spent their season getting bigger and meaner, struggled to do either. Notably, it was rookie Easton Cowan who got himself a misconduct for fighting against Anaheim. It took a rookie to step up the tempo, rather than the physical additions.
Already a lost season, the least the Leafs could have done is be ready to be a bit tough, especially as they've made clear their plan isn't to let the season just wind down.
The Toronto Maple Leafs need to show a fight, and in a heated revenge game, this may need to be the game where Toronto makes up not just for the last time they played Anaheim, but for a season lacking urgency from the beginning.
Also read on Hockey Patrol :
The high price the Maple Leafs must pay to keep Auston Matthews in Toronto
The high price the Maple Leafs must pay to keep Auston Matthews in Toronto
Previously on Hockey Patrol
| POLL | ||
MARS 26|1724 ANSWERS The Maple Leafs finally get their shot at Gudas and there’s no excuse left not to answer for Auston Matthews Should the Leafs fight Radko Gudas when they play Anaheim? | ||
| Yes | 1366 | 79.2 % |
| No | 358 | 20.8 % |
| List of polls | ||