Anaheim forward Cutter Gauthier left the Ducks’ Monday game against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first period after sustaining an upper-body injury.
Gauthier appeared to take a cross-check to the back from Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe halfway through the opening frame.
The incident occurred on the same shift on which Gauthier, the team’s leader in goals and points, scored a power-play goal to give Anaheim a 2-0 lead. Gauthier collected his 38th goal and 65th point on the season.
The game got off to an exceptionally physical start, as Ducks captain Radko Gudas and the Maple Leafs’ Max Domi dropped the gloves off the opening faceoff. The intensity came more or less as expected after Gudas ended Leafs captain Auston Matthews’ season on March 12 with a knee-on-knee hit for which he received a five-game suspension.
The Leafs were issued 13 penalty minutes in the first period, while the Ducks were whistled for nine penalty minutes.
