If you tuned in for hockey and a grudge match, you got both. Toronto beat Anaheim 5–4 in overtime! However, the night focused on Ducks captain Radko Gudas from the opening draw to the final buzzer, to avenge Austen Matthews.
It started three seconds in. Max Domi and Gudas dropped the gloves right off the faceoff, Toronto’s long‑promised response to Gudas’s knee‑on‑knee hit that ended Auston Matthews’ season. The tension didn’t come out of nowhere, Gudas served a five‑game suspension for that knee. Matthews required season‑ending surgery, and the Leafs had been roasted for not answering in the moment.
To his credit, Gudas insisted he play this rematch despite a recent lower‑body issue, telling reporters he needed to “stand behind my own mistakes” and “address it” himself. The Department of Player Safety’s George Parros was in the building, and you could see why. The teams combined for 85 penalty minutes, with multiple scrums and game misconducts in a second period that boiled over.
Here’s how the bad blood spilled out, shift by shift:
- Three seconds in, fighting majors to Domi and Gudas.
- Late first, after William Nylander bumped Ville Husso, Easton Cowan and Pavel Mintyukov took offsetting roughing minors as tempers escalated.
- Second period: Michael Pezzetta went after Gudas and earned a roughing minor and a game misconduct, later, Domi fought Mintyukov and was ejected as an aggressor.
- Another big scrum: Gudas picked up four minutes for roughing, Cowan and Jake McCabe were tagged too, with McCabe also getting a game misconduct.
Through all of that, Gudas served his penalties and then pretty well stayed parked on the bench, a presence more symbolic as the game shifted from fists to finish.
On the scoreboard, Anaheim quickly got to a 3–1 lead with Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier scoring early before John Carlson added another. Only for Toronto to flip the script later on. The Leafs’ comeback began with a Matthew Knies power‑play goal, continued with Nylander’s to tie it up, and peaked when Morgan Rielly wired a shorthanded one with 3:00 left. But the Ducks weren’t done, Carlsson tied it with 1:39 to go, forcing OT.
Overtime belonged to the captain in blue and white. John Tavares deflected Rielly’s feed with five seconds left, his second of the night, to seal the deal for a 5–4 win for Toronto. Nylander ended with four points, Rielly had a goal and an assist, and the Leafs turned an aggressive, chaotic night into points on the table.
Behind the scenes mattered, too. This was Toronto’s first game after the club dismissed GM Brad Treliving. But the main story was always Gudas, his choice to dress, the instant karma at puck drop, and a rivalry that will most likely continue for a long time.
