Gudas avoids suspension again, but shouldn’t avoid Hakstol’s wrath

It happened on Feb. 2. It happened again on Feb. 11. And on Tuesday night, it happened for a third time in nine games.

Flyers defenseman Radko Gudas was sent to the locker room early for delivering a hit of poor judgement and potential for big injury. It was his third match penalty or five-minute major in nine games.

This time, it was Gudas laying an unnecessary shoulder check into Bobby Farnham on Tuesday night. Though innocent enough, it was the intent, and likely Gudas' recent reputation for this kind of behavior, that got him kicked out of the game.

As with the previous two incidents, Gudas avoids suspension again, but he shouldn't avoid the wrath that should come from his head coach.

"There’s a big picture to all of it in terms of our main concern," head coach Dave Hakstol said at Flyers practice the day after Gudas' previous incident against Buffalo on Feb. 11. "Our main goal right now is to do all the little things necessary to win hockey games. In keeping with that, how individually does everybody do their part to help us win games. That’s the basis of my conversation with Radko."

Less than a week later, Gudas put his team in a huge predicament. The Flyers had to kill off a five-minute power play before playing the rest of the game with five defensemen. The Flyers allowed one goal — though it could have been three or four — on the Devils power play on Tuesday and managed to survive the workload in a 6-3 win.

But given the conversation, Gudas needs to face some sort of discipline from those who hold that power within the organization.

In fairness to Gudas, all three plays, when viewed separately, didn't really warrant league discipline. Collectively, it is the nature of the hits and the reputation that Gudas is forming that could have earned him a suspension this time around.

It didn't.

But that doesn't mean the Flyers can't do something about it.

Both Hakstol and GM Ron Hextall tried to discuss the issue with Gudas. He understood. But that hasn't translated over to the ice.

With another incident popping up just days after that conversation, the Flyers can easily send a message to Gudas by keeping him off the ice for at least Friday's game against Montreal.

Gudas was in the midst of putting together a pretty solid season up to this point. He was the physical presence for the Flyers, though mindful of what would and would not get him into trouble. Gudas has a total of 86 penalty minutes this season, eighth most in the NHL. That said, he has tallied 54 in the month of February alone. 

For a stretch of four months, Gudas was consistent as a defensive and physical player. He was smart with the puck, took care of the Flyers zone well and was, and remains, among the leaders in hits in the entire NHL.

But as the calendar flipped to February, it wasn't just Gudas' questionable hits that brought on this complete 180. He started to get careless with the puck. There were brutal turnovers, particularly on the penalty kill. In addition to the major penalties that put his team in pressure-packed situations, he was also taking undisciplined minors.

Suddenly, Gudas has gone from a pleasant surprise that could have potentially served as a stop-gap in the season or two to come to being a liability and quite possibly on his way out the door at the close of the season.

Gudas can still change all that by getting back to form and focusing on the importance of the team. But he needs a bigger reminder of that mindset than just a conversation. A game or two off the ice should be the message Gudas needs at this point.

Kevin Durso is managing editor for Flyerdelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.