Radko Gudas and Max Domi drop the gloves in intense fight

Forty-eight seconds in, it was already boiling. No slow start, no feeling-out shift.

Gudas stepped onto the ice carrying everything from earlier this month. The hit on Auston Matthews was still front of mind in that building.

And he went straight into it.

First shift. Center ice. Right into Domi.

Domi answered immediately. No hesitation, no extra look. Gloves off as soon as they squared up.

The building reacted right away. Both benches were up.

You could expect this scene, and you could say it was inevitable.

This wasn't about momentum. It was about facing what came with that hit.

Gudas had already made it clear he wanted to be in this game. He knew what was waiting for him.

And he didn't take a quiet route back in.

That matters inside a room, especially from a captain. Teammates notice who steps into that kind of moment.

The fight handled the temperature early. After that, things settled into structure.

Anaheim didn't get dragged into extra chaos. The rotation stayed intact after the opening shift.

Toronto got its answer too. Domi took care of it, and the Leafs didn't need to push it further.

But the tone had already been set.

This wasn't just another game on the calendar. There was history behind the opening draw.

And Gudas addressed it right away, in the most direct way possible.