The defenseman and Geese captain has not performed since Sport 1 of the primary spherical towards the Edmonton Oilers on April 20.
Gudas was full participant on the morning skate for the second straight recreation and took line rushes on a protection pair with rookie Tyson Hinds.
Vegas leads the best-of-7 sequence 2-1 after a 6-2 win right here on Friday.
Anaheim coach Joel Quenneville stated, “We’ll see” after the morning skate Sunday when requested if Gudas would play. Ahead Alex Killorn, talking earlier than Sport 3, stated Gudas coming again, every time it’s, could be “enormous for us.”
“I feel his presence bodily, clearly may be intimidating for the opposite workforce when you may have a man that’s that bodily and performs that tough,” Killorn stated. “He’s additionally the captain of our workforce, so leadership-wise he’s enormous for us, so we’ll see what occurs.”
Gudas has performed 5 video games since March 12, when he was concerned in a knee-on-knee collision with Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews, who sustained a Grade 3 MCL sprain and missed the remainder of the common season. Gudas was suspended 5 video games by the NHL Division of Participant Security for kneeing.
He returned March 24, performed two video games, missed a recreation towards the Oilers on March 28, performed on March 30 towards the Maple Leafs, then missed 5 extra video games earlier than returning on April 12 towards the Vancouver Canucks. Gudas missed the ultimate two video games of the common season earlier than enjoying Sport 1 of the primary spherical towards the Oilers.
Gudas, who performed for Staff Czechia on the 2026 Winter Olympics, had 13 factors (two objectives, 11 assists) in 56 video games this season, and has 10 factors (one purpose, 9 assists) in 58 postseason video games with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers, Washington Capitals, Florida Panthers and the Geese.
He was named Anaheim captain on Sept. 19, 2024.
“He’s a North Star for this workforce,” stated defenseman John Carlson, who was Gudas’ teammate in Washington. “The boys, we’ve been craving for him to get again on the market. These little issues actually make an enormous distinction for us.”
NHL.com employees author Derek Van Diest contributed to this report