Leafs’ Morgan Rielly shoulders blame for lack of response to Radko Gudas-Auston Matthews hit

The Toronto Maple Leafs finally snapped a long eight-game losing streak against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night — but it still feels like they lost.

Ducks defenseman Radko Gudas injured Leafs superstar Auston Matthews with a dirty knee-on-knee hit in the second period. Gudas was given a five-minute major and thrown from the contest, but no one on the ice stepped up for their captain.

Matthews will get an MRI on Friday to determine the extent of the injury, while Gudas is having a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety and will almost certainly receive a multi-game suspension.

Longtime Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly, who was on the ice when the incident occured, took blame for the team’s brutal lack of response.

“I didn’t have a good view of it just because the puck was going the other way,” he said afterwards, per NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger. “But it’s on me for not responding earlier to Gudas. Obviously, it’s a dirty hit. I didn’t understand how bad he got him in the moment, but I take full responsibility for not being the first one in there or not being in there quicker to respond.”

The 32-year-old continued: “That being said, I thought our group played well in the third and ultimately was able to respond. But, ultimately, when your captain goes down like that on a dirty play, you have to respond as a group. But I also take responsibility for not being the first one in there after the hit.”

Toronto ended up winning the game 6-4 at Scotiabank Arena, but it won’t really matter as they remain last place in the Atlantic Division and a full 11 points back of the second wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference.

“Obviously, we should have four guys in there doing something about it, but it didn’t happen,” head coach Craig Berube said, per Zeisberger. “I thought we responded in the third. A good response there. But we all would have liked everyone to get in there right away.”

It was a new low in a 2025-26 season that has seen its fair share of them in Leafland.

The post Leafs’ Morgan Rielly shoulders blame for lack of response to Radko Gudas-Auston Matthews hit appeared first on ClutchPoints.