Hard-hitting Gudas plays key role in motivating team
Joel Quenneville has often tried to explain what’s different about these Florida Panthers in the first half of the season. They’re one of the biggest surprises in the NHL — an unlikely Stanley Cup contender, tied for first place in the Central Division — and it’s not because of a slew of flashy offseason acquisitions. On Saturday, the coach tried to explain again and wound up mentioning Radko Gudas in passing while he sorted through a litany of differences from a year ago.
About nine hours later, the defenseman was the spark plug for another come-from-behind victory against the Chicago Blackhawks.
“Guds has some impact on changing the complexion of games with the physicality he brings,” Quenneville said after the Panthers’ 4-2 win Saturday.
About five minutes into the second period, Gudas leveled Blackhawks forward Carl Soderberg right in front of Florida’s bench. Fellow defenseman MacKenzie Weegar’s jaw dropped and the rest of the bench whipped into a frenzy. Multiple Panthers singled it out as the turning point in their latest comeback win.
Florida (18-5-4) scored three goals in the next eight minutes and a 1-0 deficit became a 3-1 lead by the end of the period.
“That definitely shifted the game,” said forward Anthony Duclair, who assisted on the first goal in the 3-0 run. “We got a goal off that a couple shifts later.”
Gudas finished the win with one assist and a team-high six hits, and his 126 hits this season are more than double any of his teammates.
While most of the Panthers’ offseason additions weren’t high-profile, firstyear general manager Bill Zito and Quenneville went in with a plan, and reshaped the roster. Ten of the 27 skaters to play in a game for Florida this year weren’t on the roster last season, including Gudas.
The 30-year-old played last year with the Washington Capitals, and made previous stops with the Philadelphia Flyers and Tampa Bay Lightning. He built a reputation as one of the most hated players in hockey because of his physical — and often dirty — play. In his nine seasons, Gudas has accrued more than $400,000 worth of fines, six match penalties and three suspensions.
“I definitely like to have him as a teammate,” Duclair said, “not playing against him for once.”
Gudas, though, vowed to clean up his act and made it through his lone season in Washington without much controversy. In his first season in South Florida, Quenneville felt a player like Gudas was missing.
“Everybody probably thought it’s one area over the last few years that we can shore up our D in any capacity, but I think the one element on the back end that you can never have enough of is guys that play hard and guys that make it tough on their opponents, knowing that you might have to match up against that guy all night long and it’s going to be a hard night,” Quenneville said. “He brings that element that we didn’t have.”
It was evidenced this weekend and Chicago (14-10-5) will have to deal with Gudas again Monday when the Panthers host the Blackhawks at the BB&T Center at 7 p.m. and go for a two-game sweep.
Florida’s turnaround this season — fueled by comeback wins and improved defense — has come via the fringes of the roster. Center Aleksander Barkov, left wing Jonathan Huberdeau and defenseman Aaron Ekblad are all playing up to their star potential, veteran right wing Patric Hornqvist is also putting up star-type numbers by piling up hardworking deflection goals and the Panthers are winning with depth on both ends of the ice.
Florida didn’t sign Gudas to be an All-Star. He doesn’t usually play on either of the Panthers’ top two defensive pairings. He doesn’t even have to deliver a momentum-shifting hit in every game.
He’s just another option to step up on any given night — and even on his quietest nights, opponents always have to look over their shoulders.
“He can switch the momentum on any shift,” Duclair said. “It’s great to have him out there banging bodies.”