Maple Leafs' Auston Matthews Leaves Game After Scary-Looking Injury

The Toronto Maple Leafs captain had to leave the game against the Anaheim Ducks after being hit by a defenseman.

Mar 5, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews (34) skates against the New York Rangers during the third period at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Toronto Maple Leafs captain and Team USA captain cannot catch a break as his team seems destined to miss the playoffs this year, and now he got hurt mid-game against the Anaheim Ducks. Matthews went to go and shoot the puck at Ducks goaltender Lukas Dostal and defenseman Radko Gudas skated at him and stuck his knee out and hurt Matthews.

Auston Matthews had to leave the game after this knee on knee hit from Radko Gudas.

Gudas was given a game misconduct 5 minute major pic.twitter.com/BjZyQ5OTdr

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 13, 2026

Hockey fans around the world should remember when Team Canada was playing Team Czechia in the quarterfinals of the Milan Olympic Tournament not long ago and what Gudas did. Gudas went to finish a check on Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, and it has been speculated Crosby injured his knee.

Mar 4, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas (7) skates with the puck during the third period against the New York Islanders at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

So, this is not the first time that Gudas injured a star player with a knee injury, and especially a captain of a team. Gudas was thrown out in this game for the deliberate attempt to injure and got nothing for the Crosby injury.

Crosby has been out for the Penguins ever since the Olympics ended and Gudas delivered a hit on him. He is said to be getting close to returning to action, but since that hit, Crosby has not played in a professional game.

Matthews and the Maple Leafs are likely to miss the playoffs this year and so this game really meant nothing for them other than finishing the season out. And now Matthews is likely going to be out for the rest of the year and possibly miss time next season.

The NHL Department of Player Safety needs to take a long look at this hit and hand out a suspension. There is no place in hockey for a hit of this caliber especially with it being intentional.

Gudas has a teammate that is also known for bad hits and both have histories

Every hockey fan remembers when Jacob Trouba used to make the national news for his elbows to the head back when he used to play for the New York Rangers. And now with Trouba being on the Ducks, him and Gudas tend to throw bad hits more often than not and get calls from NHLDPS.

There is no room for any kind of intentional hit where they try to injure players ever in the game of hockey. Trouba and Gudas are both bad in their own rights when it comes to these kind of hits.

Trouba elbowed Crosby in the head back in the playoffs a few seasons ago when the Rangers took on the Penguins in a playoff series. And now Gudas taking out Crosby and Matthews, a lengthy suspension needs to be on it's way.

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