Michael Bunting was suspended for three games by the NHL Department of Player Safety and will not play for the Toronto Maple Leafs against the Tampa in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference best-of-7 first round at Scotiabank Arena on Thursday (7 p.m. ET). Bay Lightning play ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS, BSSUN).
The Maple Leafs forward was penalized for an illegal head check and interference with Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak in Tuesday’s 7-3 Game 1 loss.
The incident occurred at 3:40 p.m. of the second period. Bunting received a five-minute match penalty for an illegal check to the head. The Lightning scored twice from forward Corey Perry and center Brayden Point on the ensuing power play to take a 6-2 lead.
Cernak left the game and did not return; Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper said Wednesday that the defenseman will not play in Game 2.
The Maple Leafs have lost in the first round in each of the last six seasons, including a seven-game loss to Tampa Bay last season despite holding a 3-2 lead in the series. Toronto has not won a series in the Stanley Cup Playoffs since 2004, and its last championship came in 1967.
With Bunting unavailable, Calle Jarnkrok replaced him on the left wing in Wednesday’s practice in a line with Auston Matthews at center and right wing Mitchell Marner.
Ryan O’Reilly was the center in line with left wing Matthew Knies, who made his Stanley Cup playoff debut in Game 2, and right wing Noel Acciari. John Tavares, who played left wing in line with O’Reilly and right wing William Nylander in Game 1, switched to center between left wing Alexander Kerfoot and Nylander.
Center David’s fourth line fight between left winger Zach Aston-Reese and right winger Sam Lafferty stayed the same.
“Our bottom six (forward) didn’t have a great day yesterday so that’s it, but I didn’t make any rostering decisions on what we’re going to look like tomorrow either,” Keefe said Wednesday. “I wanted to get John back to the center for a few reps; he hadn’t had that all week. If we end up moving things around, I want him to be comfortable there. But I haven’t made any final decisions yet, so I would do it – you shouldn’t read too much into how we looked today.”
Knies, a No. 57 second-round pick by the Maple Leafs in the 2021 NHL draft, had one assist in three regular-season games after signing with Toronto after completing his sophomore season at the University of Minnesota.
“Tampa is a competitive team, the playoffs are a different animal, a lot more physical and a lot faster,” Knies said of what he learned watching Game 1, a very valuable lesson for that team.
“That would be great (to play in Game 2). It’s every kid’s dream to play in the playoffs and play for the Stanley Cup, so I’d be super stoked and pumped to be a part of it.”
O’Reilly said he was very impressed with Knies, who has 42 points (21 goals, 21 assists) in 40 games with the University of Minnesota this season since joining the Maple Leafs on April 9.
“He’s a great kid, works really hard and you can see his ability is amazing, the way he handles the puck and the way he plays, he’s going to be exciting to play with,” O’Reilly said. “Hopefully we can generate a lot and be a line that’s tough to play against but hopefully contribute offensively. I was very impressed with him. You can tell he’s going to have a long NHL career.”
Keefe confirmed Ilya Samsonov, who allowed six goals on 29 shots before being drawn at the end of the second period, would start in Game 2 for Toronto. Joseph Woll stopped four of five shots in the third period on Tuesday.
NHL.com independent correspondent Dave McCarthy contributed to this report