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)
Negotiations began between the United States and Iran after progress in earlier indirect discussions.
Iran’s IRNA news agency said on Saturday three-party talks with the U.S., Iran and Pakistan had begun after a reduction in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon and other preconditions being met.
U.S. and Iranian delegations met with mediators in Pakistan ahead of the talks aimed at shoring up a shaky ceasefire and paving the way for a permanent end to the fighting. It marks the first such meeting since the war began more than a month ago.
The ceasefire brokered by Pakistan still faces hurdles, as Israel and Hezbollah militants have been trading fire along the border of southern Lebanon and Iran has set conditions before negotiations can begin.
The arrival of the U.S. delegation led by Vice President JD Vance followed that of Iranian negotiators headed by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, who said on X that discussions will only take place if there is an Israeli ceasefire in Lebanon the release of blocked Iranian assets.
Hours earlier, President Donald Trump wished Vance good luck. “We’ll find out what’s going on. They’re militarily defeated.”
In Islamabad, the streets of a normally bustling capital were deserted Saturday as security forces sealed roads ahead of the talks.
Here is the latest:
The Trump administration has revoked the green cards of more long-term Iranian residents of the United States who are related to current or former senior Iranian officials.
The State Department said Saturday it had taken action against Seyed Eissa Hashemi, a Los Angeles-area psychology teacher, his wife and son, all of whom were Iranian born lawful permanent residents of the US.
The department said in a statement released as talks to end the war with Iran were getting underway in Pakistan that they had been taken into custody by immigration authorities and are slated for deportation.
Hashemi, it said, is the son of Masoumeh Ebtekar who served as a spokeswoman for the attackers who took over the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979 and was later promoted to be Iran’s first female vice president.
Just last week, the State Department revoked the green cards of the niece and grand-niece of former Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps chief Qasem Soleimani, who was killed in a U.S. airstrike in Baghdad in early 2020.
Iran’s IRNA news agency said on Saturday that after progress in indirect discussions, negotiations have begun between the United States and Iran.
The country’s state-run news agency said three-party talks with the U.S., Iran and Pakistan had begun after a reduction in Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon and other preconditions being met.
The U.S. president posted on social media that Iran’s military has been destroyed and that America is beginning to open up the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway chokepoint used by Iran to restrict the shipping of 20% of the world’s oil supplies.
It was unclear from the post if Trump was referring to the possible use of mines in the Strait of Hormuz or Iran’s broader ability to control the area.
“We’re now starting the process of clearing out the Strait of Hormuz as a favor to Countries all over the World, including China, Japan, South Korea, France, Germany, and many others,” Trump posted. “Incredibly, they don’t have the Courage or Will to do this work themselves.”
French President Emmanuel Macron is urging ″respect for the ceasefire and its application to Lebanon.’′
In a social media post, Macron said he talked to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday and that in addition to discussing the ceasefire, they urged a return to free navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
The French leader didn’t mention the negotiations in Pakistan, but said he and Erdogan ″underlined the need for a robust and lasting diplomatic solution.’′
Macron has been speaking regularly with other world leaders about the war and helping lead efforts for a mission to secure shipping in the Strait of Hormuz once the fighting calms. He has been particularly active in pushing for peace in Lebanon, a former French protectorate with close ties to France.
An Iranian delegation led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf met Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Saturday.
According to a statement from Sharif’s office, Qalibaf was accompanied by Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi.
Sharif welcomed Iran’s engagement in the Islamabad talks and “affirmed Pakistan’s sincere resolve to continue playing its role as a mediator to help build momentum toward achieving meaningful results in the interest of regional and global peace and stability,” the statement said.
Sharif was joined by Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar and Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir.
The statement gave no further details.
It was not immediately clear whether Sharif met the Iranian or U.S. delegation first as part of efforts to encourage direct talks aimed at resolving the regional conflict.
Iran has conveyed its position to Pakistani officials who are mediating between the Islamic Republic and the U.S., an Iranian official said.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei told Iran’s state-run television that a ceasefire in Lebanon is a “basic demand,” as Iran’s delegation met with Pakistani officials including army chief and prime minister.
Israel has continued striking Lebanon after a ceasefire last week between the U.S. and Iran was announced, even though mediator Pakistan has said that the tiny Mediterranean nation is part of the two-week pause.
Baghaei, meanwhile, described the talks as a “particular moment” for Iran, and framed diplomacy as a “continuation of defense and a continuation of war.”
“An intense struggle is underway on the diplomatic front,” he said.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media on Saturday that oil tankers "are heading, right now, to the United States to load up with the best and ‘sweetest’ oil (and gas!) anywhere in the World.”
The Iran war has led to Iranians effectively shuttering the Strait of Hormuz through which 20% of the world’s oil supplies gets shipped. That has pushed up energy prices and given Iran a key point of leverage in negotiations with the U.S.
But Trump argues that the U.S. can serve as an alternative source of oil and natural gas, though increased demand for American energy products could further push up prices for consumers unless there is more domestic production.
Iranian negotiators submitted their terms for the talks with the U.S. in their meeting with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to Iran's state-run television.
Negotiators disclosed Iran's “redlines” that included compensation for damage caused by the American-Israeli strikes and releasing Iran’s frozen assets.
They also include a mechanism to the opening of the Strait of Hormuz, and a “tangible and lasting ceasefire” in Iran and other areas - an apparent reference to Iran’s allies in the region.
The Saudi Defense Ministry said the Pakistani forces that include fighter and support aircraft arrived at a Saudi airbase on Saturday as part of a defense deal between the two countries.
The deployment came as officials from Iran and the U.S. are set to start talks Saturday in Islamabad that aim to end the war in the Middle East.
The ministry said the Pakistani force has been deployed at King Abdulaziz Air Base in the oil-rich eastern region which was repeatedly attacked with drones and missiles during the war.
The deployment aims at “enhancing joint military coordination … and supporting security and stability at both regional and international levels,” it said.
The pact was signed in September and defines any attack on either nation as an attack on both.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance met Saturday with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Both the White House and Sharif’s office announced the meeting, which comes as U.S. and Iranian officials are set to hold high-stakes talks later in the day.
Vance was accompanied by President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner.
Sharif’s office said the prime minister told the U.S. delegation that Pakistan looks forward to continuing its facilitation efforts to help both sides make progress toward sustainable peace.
Iran's state-run television reported earlier that Iran’s negotiating team also met with Sharif.
Civil defense crews used cranes on Saturday to search through partially collapsed apartments, three days after Israeli strikes hit a six-story building in Beirut’s seaside neighborhood of Caracas.
The Israeli military struck some 100 sites that it said were connected to Hezbollah in the capital and other parts of Lebanon Wednesday, killing more than 300 people, including more than 100 women and children.
Civil defense officials said six people were killed in the Caracas building and a missing teenager was believed to be buried under a collapsed roof.
Najib Merhi, the owner of a snack shop on the bottom floor, said the strike came as a shock because “this is a touristic area, a safe area, an area that is shared between all the social fabric of this country.”
Iran's state-run television reported that Iran’s negotiating team chaired by parliament speaker Mahammad Bagher Qalibaf, met on Saturday with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Neither the Iranian delegation nor the prime minister’s office commented on the meeting in the Pakistani city city of Islamabad.
The meeting came as the U.S. and Iranian officials are set to start indirect high-stakes talks Saturday afternoon on ending the war in the Middle East.
People in Iran’s capital say they’re hopeful that a deal can be struck in peace talks that began Saturday.
They told the Associated Press that they base that guarded optimism on both sides realizing that no one would gain from more war.
People said they’ve been worn down by weeks of airstrikes and warn that even if a deal is reached, the road to recovery will be long.
Amir Razzai Far, 62, said a peace deal isn’t enough “because we’ve been hit very hard, there have been huge costs, and the people have to pay for that.”
Shahab Banitaba also questioned whether the U.S. could be trusted to uphold any agreement.
She said even if there’s something concrete on paper, “there is still a chance that the deal falls through.”
Officials from the region said on Saturday that Egyptian, Saudi, Chinese and Qatari officials are in Islamabad to indirectly facilitate the talks.
The officials were speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the matter.
The head of Airports Council International-Europe, Olivier Jankovec, warned the European Union that a ″systemic jet fuel shortage’’ could come within three weeks because of the blockage of the Strait of Hormuz.
Jankovec said in a letter obtained by the Associated Press on Saturday that the crunch could impact the summer travel season and ″significantly harm the European economy.’′
He urged the EU to organize collective purchases of jet fuel for European countries, track stocks and identify alternative sources of jet fuel, among other measures.
The EU’s Energy Union Task Force which met Friday said there is ″no immediate risk to the EU’s security of oil and gas supply’’ from the Mideast conflicts and no need to release additional stocks.
But it warned of possible longer-term risks, and said ″jet fuel remains the primary concern’’ because of its reliance on imports.
Foreign Minister Abbas AraghchiIran said his country enters Saturday’s talks with the United States with “deep distrust” because the Islamic Republic was attacked twice during negotiations on its nuclear program.
Araghchi warned that his country would fight back if it was attacked, his office posted on Telegram.
The Iranian official, who spoke with German counterpart Johann Wadeful on Friday, also called for Israeli attacks on Lebanon to stop.
Retired army general and senior defense analyst Tariq Rashid Khan on Saturday said “I think there will be good news, big news this week as a result of the talks."
Khan said Pakistan's Army Chief Gen. Asim Munir had played an important role in bringing the two sides to the negotiating table.
He said Pakistan offered to mediate because any further escalation could spark a wider conflict.
Mohammad Reza Aref, Iran’s first vice president, said on Saturday U.S.-Iran peace talks could produce a deal if U.S. officials worked in the interest of their country in line with President Donald Trump’s “America First” doctrine.
“However, if we face representatives of ‘Israel First,’ there will be no deal,” Aref said in a social media post.
He warned that “the world will face greater costs,” if the talks failed and the U.S. and Israel resumed the war against Iran.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital which received the casualties said the Israeli airstrike hit a security point in the urban refugee camp of Bureij around in the predawn hours Saturday.
The Israeli military told the Associated Press that it struck Hamas militants who allegedly came close to the so-called Yellow Line that separated the Israeli-controlled areas in Gaza from the rest of the strip.
The deaths were the latest among Palestinians in the territory since a ceasefire deal last October that aimed to halt a more than two-year war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.
While the heaviest fighting has subsided, Israeli forces have carried out repeated airstrikes and frequently fire on Palestinians near military-held zones, killing more than 730 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials.
The health ministry, which is part of the Hamas-led government, maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by U.N. agencies and independent experts. But it does not give a breakdown of civilians and militants.
Militants have carried out shooting attacks on troops, and Israel says its strikes are in response to that and other violations. Four Israeli soldiers have been killed since the ceasefire.
Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Saturday received the U.S. delegation lead by U.S. Vice President JD Vance.
The ministry said in a statement that Dar commended the U.S. commitment to achieving lasting regional and global peace and stability.
He expressed hope that the parties would engage constructively and reiterated Pakistan’s desire to continue facilitating efforts toward a lasting and durable resolution to the conflict.
The Lebanese National News Agency reported multiple Israeli strikes early Saturday in southern Lebanon, killing at least three people.
The three were killed when an airstrike hit and destroyed a residential building in Maifadoun town in the southern province of Nabatiyeh, according to the agency.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, said it fired a barrage of rockets that targeted a military facility in northern Israel.
Vance arrived in Islamabad at the head of a delegation that includes President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner.
The Iranian delegation, led by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, was already in Islamabad.
Before departing for Pakistan, Vance warned Iran not to “play” the U.S. Hours later, Qalibaf said discussions would only take place if there is an Israeli ceasefire in Lebanon and the release of blocked Iranian assets.
Pakistan’s government has set up a state-of-the-art media center to facilitate Pakistani and foreign journalists covering the talks between the United States and Iran, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar said.
Tarar told reporters the facility at the Jinnah Convention Center offers high-speed internet and a range of free services to support media coverage. Shuttle services have been arranged to transport journalists between the media center and a hotel in the city’s main shopping mall.
Pakistan has announced visa-on-arrival for journalists and official delegations traveling from the United States and Iran for the talks, which have been dubbed the “Islamabad talks.”
Inside the media center, rows of workstations equipped with laptops and charging points allow reporters to file stories. Large screens broadcast major domestic and international television channels. The facility also has designated areas for live stand-ups, press briefings and interviews.
The streets of Pakistan’s normally bustling capital were deserted Saturday as security forces sealed roads ahead of talks between high-level officials from Iran and the U.S. to end their nearly six-week war. Pakistani authorities urged Islamabad residents to stay inside, leading the city to look like it was under curfew.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance is leading the American delegation, which was expected to arrive before noon.
Iranian negotiators, headed by Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, arrived late Friday.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif the conflict was entering a “difficult phase” as the sides try to shift from a temporary pause in fighting to a more lasting settlement. He said they were at a “make-or-break” moment.
U.S. Vice President JD Vance disembarks from Air Force Two after arriving for talks with Iranian officials in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, April 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, Pool)
People residing in an underground shelter pack up their belongings as they prepare to leave after the announcement of a two-week ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Men inspect the damage to their home destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A Lebanese civil defense worker looks upward near the site of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Displaced families extend their hands while waiting for donated food beside the tents they use as shelters after fleeing Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A Lebanese civil defense worker, right, stands with a resident at the site of a building destroyed in an Israeli airstrike a day earlier in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
