NEW YORK (AP) — Anaheim Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas has been suspended five games for his knee-on-knee hit that injured Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews and sidelined him for the rest of the season.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced the suspension after a phone hearing with Gudas earlier Friday. Because it was a conference call and not “in-person” — now on Zoom — the ban was limited to a maximum of five games.
It’s Gudas’ fifth suspension in 14 seasons in the league and his first since 2019. He forfeits $104,167 in salary and will miss games against Ottawa, Montreal, Philadelphia, Utah and Buffalo.
The 35-year-old Czech is eligible to return March 24 at Vancouver. In first place in the Pacific Division with 17 games left, the Ducks are attempting to end a seven-year playoff drought dating to their most recent appearance in 2018.
Toronto a little over an hour before the length of Gudas' suspension was unveiled said Matthews had a torn medial collateral ligament and a bruised quadriceps muscle.
Matthews' agent, Judd Moldaver, said in a statement he was very disappointed and shocked about the ruling, given the severity of the play.
“A phone hearing and five games is just laughable and preposterous,” said Moldaver, who is the executive VP at THE.TEAM agency. “That there was no further discipline is a reckless and ridiculous position for player safety. This decision results in a further loss of confidence in the disciplinary process for all players. Players and fans deserve better. The player safety department should be suspended.”
Player safety recently also opted for a phone hearing with Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin for slashing Buffalo's Rasmus Dahlin. Malkin also was suspended five games for swinging his stick at Dahlin.
With just over four minutes left in the second period of the teams' game Thursday night, Gudas' left knee made contact with Matthews' left knee and sent the 28-year-old American star to the ice in pain.
Gudas was given a 5-minute major penalty and ejected. Matthews needed assistance from an athletic trainer and a teammate to leave the rink, and he did not return.
Toronto coach Craig Berube called it a dirty play, and forward Matthew Knies said Gudas has “done a few of those before in his career.” Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville defended Gudas, saying there was no premeditation and that it was the result of reflexes.
Gudas, a bruising defender who is 6-foot and 208 pounds, was also involved in the play that knocked Canada's Sidney Crosby out of the Olympics, while representing Czechia. He was not penalized, and opponents did not publicly take issue with Gudas' role in that situation.
Although he was not considered a repeat offender under the terms of the collective bargaining agreement, which counts supplemental discipline over the past two years, Gudas has a long rap sheet from earlier in his career. He was suspended four times between 2015-19: three games for an illegal check to the head, six for interference, 10 for slashing and two for high-sticking.
Adding this time, Gudas has been suspended for 26 games and docked $855,527 in salary.
Matthews last month captained the U.S. to its first men's hockey gold medal at the Olympics since 1980. From Arizona, he's in his 10th season in the league and leads the Maple Leafs in goals with 27.
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Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews (34) and Anaheim Ducks Radko Gudas (7) battle for the puck during second period NHL hockey action in Toronto on Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews, left, is injured by Anaheim Ducks Radko Gudas during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
Toronto Maple Leafs Auston Matthews (34) is injured by Anaheim Ducks Radko Gudas (7) during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Toronto, Thursday, March 12, 2026. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP)
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — A combined missile and drone attack on the Kyiv region killed at least four people and wounded at least 15 overnight into Saturday, according to the head of the regional administration.
Three of the wounded were in critical condition, of whom two were undergoing surgery, Mykola Kalashnyk reported on Saturday. The attack hit four districts, damaging residential buildings, educational institutions, enterprises and critical infrastructure, Kalashnyk added in a social media post.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the main target for the overnight strikes was "the energy infrastructure of the Kyiv region.” He said Russia launched around 430 drones of various types during the night, as well as 68 missiles.
Russia’s Defense Ministry on Saturday said the nighttime strikes targeted energy and industrial facilities serving Ukraine's armed forces, as well as military airfields.
The strikes came days after the U.S. postponed peace talks between Russia and Ukraine scheduled for this week, citing the war in the Middle East.
As U.S. and Israeli missiles and bombs rain on Iran, Russia has responded with words of indignation but no action to support its ally. Moscow’s failure to help another ally, after the 2024 ouster of former Syrian ruler Bashar Assad and January’s U.S. arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, highlighted the limits of its influence — but the Kremlin expects to reap benefits from the Iran war.
Russia is already profiting from a surge in global energy prices, and could hope that the Mideast war will detract attention from Ukraine, deplete Western arsenals and force NATO allies to reduce military support for Kyiv.
Zelenskyy on Saturday called on Kyiv's Western partners to pay “one hundred percent attention” to the need to boost the production of air defense missiles.
“Russia will try to exploit the war in the Middle East to cause even greater destruction here in Europe, in Ukraine," he said in a post on social media.
"We must be fully aware of the real level of the threat and prepare accordingly, namely: in Europe, we need to develop the production of air defense missiles — especially those capable of countering ballistic threats — as well as all other systems necessary to truly protect lives,” he said.
Kyiv is also awaiting White House approval for a major drone production agreement proposed by Ukraine last year, Zelenskyy said Thursday, as countries scramble to modernize their air defenses after the Iran war exposed shortcomings.
Also on Thursday, Zelenskyy criticized the 30-day U.S. waiver on Russian oil sanctions amid the war in the Middle East, saying it is “not the right decision” and won’t help bring a stop to Russia’s more than 4-year-old invasion of Ukraine.
“This easing alone by the United States could provide Russia with about $10 billion for the war,” Zelenskyy said. “This certainly does not help peace.”
Overnight into Saturday, Ukrainian drones hit an oil refinery and port in Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, local Russian officials reported.
Krasnodar authorities said three people were hurt in a strike on Port Kavkaz, a port opposite Crimea used to ship liquefied natural gas and grains. A service vessel and pier infrastructure were damaged, they said in a social media post. One person was hospitalized, they added in a separate post later.
Falling drone debris also sparked a fire at the region’s Afipsky oil refinery, authorities said in a separate Telegram post. They said no one was hurt, but did not immediately comment on damage.
Russia's Defense Ministry said its forces shot down 87 Ukrainian drones during the night, including 16 over the Krasnodar region and 31 over the nearby Sea of Azov.
Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said that 16 drones had been downed on the approach to the Russian capital as of early afternoon on Saturday.
Earlier this week, Russian and Ukrainian officials both claimed front-line progress, with Ukraine saying it pushed Moscow’s forces back across places on the front line and the Kremlin insisting Russia’s invasion of its neighbor is making progress.
Firefighters put out the fire at railway workshops following a Russia missile and drone attack, in Brovary close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Firefighters put out the fire at railway workshops following a Russia missile and drone attack, in Brovary, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Firefighters put out the fire at a residential neighbourhood following a Russia missile and drone attack, in Brovary, close to Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, March 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during a joint presser with France's President Emmanuel Macron, not pictured, following a bilateral meeting at the Elysee Presidential Palace in Paris, Friday March 13, 2026. (Ludovic Marin/Pool Photo via AP)
