Saturday night marked the first time Radko Gudas stepped foot on the ice at Scotiabank Arena since eliminating the Leafs from the 2022-23 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Obviously, one of the big storylines for tonight was whether or not the Leafs would extract their pound of flesh after Gudas stood over rookie netminder Joseph Woll, screaming in his face in the elimination game. Well, it was very apparent from the get-go that the Leafs weren't going to go easy on Gudas and it didn't take long for the Leafs to get under his skin.
During the first period, Gudas had attempted to make a routine play along the wall in the neutral zone when feisty Leafs forward Max Domi delivered a hard hit on the veteran defenseman, who took exception to the play.
Gudas grabbed Domi almost immediately and the two threw their gloves off for what many were hoping would be a spirited tilt. However, Gudas really didn't seem overly interested in going toe-to-toe with Domi, attempting to horse-collar him during the altercation and slamming him to the ice hard, ending the brief scrap before it started.
If Gudas thinks that will be it for him tonight, he's got another thing coming. The Leafs aren't going to go easy on him tonight and it wouldn't surprise me if he ends up having to drop the gloves again with one of Domi, Benoit, McCabe or Reaves.
