Gudas has been a good boy, better player lately

PHILADELPHIA >> The natural assumption, made with many management fingers crossed, was that the early weeks of erratic Flyers defensive play would soon settle into a steadier rhythm, provided so many youthful defensemen found their respective games.

While the spotlight usually settled on top-shelf youngsters Ivan Provorov and Shayne Gostisbehere, it also homed in on secondyear defensemen Robert Hagg and Travis Sanheim.

Coach Dave Hakstol found himself switching his top two pairings to help Hagg, Gostisbehere and Provorov. Meanwhile, Sanheim has found a niche on the third pair with perhaps the most unlikely source of defensive calm in the locker room ... Former bad boy Radko Gudas.

“I feel comfortable back there,” Gudas said Thursday after warming up for a game against the Coyotes. “I think I’m still throwing hits around, I still play physical and I’m more use for my team than I was before. If that’s something that’s going to keep me on the ice, keep me in the lineup, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Gudas has not only adopted a calmer on-ice posture. He’s warmed to the task of cooling his inner flame, the one that occasionally exploded all over the competition.

Listed prominently on the 28-year-old’s resume was a three-game suspension for a head hit on Ottawa’s Mika Zibanejad in December 2015. He was ejected three times in a span of a little more than two weeks later that season and earned a six-game league slap for a hit delivered to Boston’s Austin Czarnik in a preseason game in Oct. 2016.

That set the stage for his most glittering production, a recklessly awkward (in some eyes) or brutal (to most observers) stick slash to the neck of Winnipeg’s Mathieu Perreault last Nov. 20 which resulted in a 10-game suspension.

From these infractions and more, Gudas’ bank account has suffered. Worse, he says, his suspensions and associated penalties have cost his team. That’s why he’s had a few too many uncomfortable conversations with his bosses. Somewhere along the line, however, something seemed to stick, because even with a full complement of blue line mates this year, Gudas has started 15 of the Flyers’ 16 games.

What’s more, Gudas has rolled up only 10 penalty minutes. He used to be capable of doing that in a game. Asked if his self-conscious campaign to limit penalty calls was working, Gudas turned and knocked his hand on a wooden bench, then said, “So far, yeah.

“I think I’ve done a better job than I did in the past, yes,” Gudas said. “The coach has been using me, so I hope I didn’t lose any of my edge. I’m trying to be the best I can be, and not being in the box is one of the things I have to take care of.”

Staying away from minor penalties is one thing, but controlling his more primitive urges is more complex. For one, the NHL continues to pay everstricter attention to hits near the head, which can easily lead to subjective calls. Gudas has pointed out that shorter skill players offer a challenge to a player who likes to use his body near the boards, as even a slight dip of the upper body can put such players in a vulnerable position.

And put the hitter at risk for unlucky criminal calls, which are easier to come by with a reputation like Gudas’s.

“I want to still be effective for my team,” he said. “Guys are smaller, so they don’t expect to get hit. You have to pick your times when they are ready for it, too. It is a gray area in our game right now. You have to do your best to stay within the lines and not to get penalized.”

But with the “gray” way that such rules are enforced, Gudas argues that players on the receiving end should bear some responsibility for keeping themselves safe.

“Guys have to protect themselves,” Gudas said. “If they don’t, whose fault is it? It’s kind of in the middle. I think the Players Safety (Department) are doing a good job and I think the guys are doing a better job, too, of recognizing when to hit and when not to hit.

“It’s a hockey thing, you know? There’s a lot of angry guys out there. Something happens, some guy slashes somebody, somebody gets hissed off. That’s why there’s fighting, that’s why there’s penalties. If you do something that’s not in the game’s rules, you get penalized and you hurt your team. That’s the way it is.”

Lately, however, Gudas has only been hurting his reputation as a reckless player. He’s been cool, calm and not collecting penalty minutes or NHL court dates.

“You go through a couple of suspensions, that’s really the only choice for him, is to adjust a little bit,” coach Dave Hakstol said. “Right there, the critical part is just making a small adjustment and not changing his game, because what he brings is really valuable. The physical edge he brings is very important to our team.”

Gudas is close to fellow Czech player Michal Neuvirth and lamented over his friend’s latest injury. Neuvirth has always had a reputation as injury prone, but this season he simply can’t seem to stay on the ice for longer than the blink of an injury eye.

“He had a tough surgery in the offseason and I’m not sure what the diagnosis is right now, but it’s never fun to see a guy getting hurt so much,” Gudas said. “You want to have your team full and healthy, and seeing guys being hurt all the time, it’s never nice for anybody.

“I think the biggest thing he needs right now is our support, us letting him know he’s still part of the team and we’re still counting on him. And we need him to be healthy to help us win some games.”

••• NOTES >> While Gudas continues to impress his coach, another defensive elder can’t make an impression: Andrew MacDonald was a healthy scratch Thursday for the 10th time in the last 11 games . ... Injured forward James van Riemsdyk participated in the morning skate Thursday. “Good to see him out there,” Hakstol said. “He’s got work in front of him to get back toward our lineup, but it’s always good to see a player get back out on the ice.”