The Toronto Maple Leafs will be without left winger Michael Bunting of Scarborough, Ontario for the next three games. That is because he has been suspended for a check to the head on Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak of Kosice, Slovakia. Cernak meanwhile will not be in the lineup for Tampa Bay on Thursday.
When did the hit happen?
The check occurred with four minutes and 20 seconds left in the second period, and the Lightning leading the Maple Leafs 4-2. Bunting received a five minute match penalty as a result. On the ensuing power play, the Lightning just did not score once, they scored twice. Corey Perry of Peterborough, Ontario scored from Ross Colton of Robbinsville, New Jersey to put Tampa Bay up 5-2, and then Brayden Point of Calgary, Alberta scored from Nikita Kucherov of Maykop, Russia and Perry to put the Lightning up 6-2.
Maple Leafs playoff woes continue
The Toronto Maple Leafs have not won a playoff series since 2004 when they eliminated the Ottawa Senators. Unless the Maple Leafs play with more discipline and poise, that trend is set to continue. In game one on Tuesday, the Maple Leafs had a tough time containing Perry, who at 37 years of age, looked like the Hart Trophy winning forward who led the National Hockey League in goals while with the Anaheim Ducks in 2011. He was that electrifying, and led all players on the ice with seven shots on goal, to go along with a Lightning-high three points (one goal and two assists).
Toronto will also need much better goaltending from Ilya Samsonov of Magnitogorsk, Russia, who was outplayed by his Russian counterpart and Lightning netminder Andrei Vasilevskiy of Tyumen, Russia. Samsonov gave up six goals on 29 shots before being pulled for Joseph Woll of Dardenne Prairie, Missouri. Toronto is clearly missing goaltender Matt Murray, who is out with a head injury himself.
Michael Bunting in 2022-23
In 82 regular season games, Bunting had 23 goals and 26 assists for 49 points. He was a +21 with 103 penalty minutes. With Bunting out for games two, three and four, rookie Matthew Knies of Phoenix, Arizona could get more playing time. Knies is new to the Maple Leafs as he spent the majority of the season competing for the University of Minnesota.
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