Was Gudas Hit Dirty? Maple Leafs Not Happy with It

The Toronto Maple Leafs have not been thrilled with the Florida Panthers throughout this series and now Radko Gudas is in the spotlight.

The Leafs feel Gudas’ thunderous hit on David Kampf in the second period of Game 4 in Sunrise was a little too aggressive.

You can see what happened below, but here is the gist: Officials blew the whistle to stop play as a penalty on Toronto defenseman T.J. Brodie for holding the stick of Anton Lundell.

As the whistle was blown, the puck came into the corner to Kampf — and Gudas separated him from it with a huge blow up against the glass.

A scrum broke out but only the original penalty was called.

Kampf ended up leaving the game only to return in the third period.

Toronto coach Sheldon Keefe said he did not know whether Gudas delivered the hit after the whistle blew — but he did know the play was going to be stopped.

“That’s a hit on a guy that he knows the play either has ended or is ending,’’ Keefe said. “To me, that’s a hit with no intention other than to hurt the player. You know, a lot of violence to it, but happy Dave’s okay.”

Unlike the suspensions handed out in the Vegas-Edmonton game, there was no supplemental discipline handed out to Gudas.

This is not the first hit in this series the Leafs have questioned.

In Game 2, Sam Bennett slammed Matthew Knies to the ice after the two got tangled up along the back boards.

Knies has been out with a concussion since.

FLORIDA PANTHERS ON DECK

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS

EASTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS

PANTHERS (WC2) AT TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS (ATL2)

GAME 5 (Florida Leads 3-1)

• When: Friday, 7 p.m.
• Where: Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
• TV: TNT
• Radio: WPOW 96.5-FM2; WBZT 1230-AM (Palm Beach); WCTH 100.3-FM (Florida Keys); SiriusXM
• Panthers Radio Streaming: SiriusXM 932
• First Round Schedule — Game 1: Florida 4, @Toronto 2; Game 2: Florida 3, @Toronto 2; Game 3: @Florida 3, Toronto 2 (OT); Game 4: Toronto 2, @Florida 1; Game 5: Friday at Toronto (TNT), 7; Game 6*: Sunday, May 14 at Florida (TBA); Game 7*:May 16 at Toronto (TNT). (*) – If Necessary
• How They Got Here: Toronto d. Tampa Bay 4-2; Florida d. Boston 4-3
• Season Series (Toronto won 3-1): Maple Leafs 5, @Panthers 4 OT (Jan. 17); @Maple Leafs 6, Panthers 2 (Mar. 23); Panthers 3, @Maple Leafs 2 OT (March 29); Maple Leafs 2, @Panthers 1 OT (April 10)
• Last season: Florida won 2-1
  
• All-time Regular Season Series: Toronto leads 48-36-7, 7 ties
• Postseason History: First Meeting