Radko Gudas suspended 5 games for his knee-on-knee hit that injured Auston Matthews

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Radko Gudas suspended 5 games for his knee-on-knee hit that injured Auston Matthews

2026-03-14 09:19 Last Updated At：09:20

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.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Potapova tops Pliskova in Madrid to become 1st 'lucky loser' in semifinals at a WTA 1000-level event

MADRID (AP) — Anastasia Potapova dropped to her knees, put both hands on her face and started crying.

The “explosion of emotions inside” came after the 56th-ranked Austrian became the first “lucky loser” to reach a WTA 1000 semifinal by defeating Karolina Pliskova 6-1, 6-7 (4), 6-3 on Wednesday at the Madrid Open.

She almost gave up the victory, squandering three match points in the second set and having to overcome a 1-3 deficit in the decisive set.

“I (had) a few match points in the second set, on serve, but I couldn't manage my nerves at that time,” the 25-year-old Potapova said. “It seems that this tournament keeps giving me second chances and I keep using them. So yeah, supper happy.”

The Russian-born Potapova said she got a huge boost when her boyfriend, Dutch player Tallon Griekspoor, arrived to watch.

“I was a little bit gone mentally in the third set. I didn’t believe in myself at that moment,” she said. “But big respect to my boyfriend who came just on time. He saved me. He kept telling me, ‘You can do this, we are all together here, just keep going.’”

Potapova said Griekspoor is “not scared” of telling her anything and deserved some credit for her victory.

“I just played, and mentally he kept me there,” she said. “It just happened at the such important moment, and it gave me a lot of energy. Mentally, I think he got this match. I did it physically. He did it mentally."

She will face either Linda Noskova or Marta Kostyuk for a spot in the final.

Potapova got into the main draw as a lucky loser despite losing her second qualifying match in Madrid. She became the first lucky loser to reach a WTA 1000 or Tier I semifinal since the Tier format’s inception in 1990, according to the WTA.

Potapova went on to win four straight matches, including against world No. 2 Elena Rybakina in the round of 16.

“To be honest, I didn’t expect myself being in the draw again because at first they didn’t take my name as a lucky loser,” she said. “And then the days kept on going and nobody was injured or pulling out. Then the last moment I got the information, literally 30 minutes before the match, that I was given a chance to step on court here again.”

She said she had been just enjoying “some nice days” in the Spanish capital, with no expectations.

“Maybe that’s the key, you don’t need to be always so zoomed in and so locked in on the tournament,” Potapova said. “Maybe it’s just a matter of sometimes just enjoy yourself and enjoy the journey, and maybe that’s how the results can also come.”

She said it feels like “a miracle” to have made it all the way to the semifinals.

"It’s pretty rare when you get the second chance and that you go almost all the way until the end,” Potapova said. “But also at the same time I always say, if you got it, maybe you deserved it. So I did work hard. Also, you know, anyone can get a second chance, but how many of those will actually take it? So I’m happy that I didn’t waste it, and I was able to convert it and to be here now.”

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Radko Gudas suspended 5 games for his knee-on-knee hit that injured Auston Matthews

Sport

Radko Gudas suspended 5 games for his knee-on-knee hit that injured Auston Matthews

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