Keefe reunites popular line midway through Saturday's win over Ottawa; will it be permanent, or was it just a one-off?
As the Leafs head into this final stretch of games before the playoffs, even though they've clinched a playoff berth, everyone point is still important until home ice has been locked up. Last night in Ottawa, the Leafs secured 2 more big points, remaining 4 points head of Tampa for home ice in round 1, with two games in hand over the Bolts.
The Leafs skated away with a 3-0 win in enemy territory, though you wouldn't have known it was enemy territory by the sheer number of blue and white jerseys in the house. Ilya Samsonov stopped all 31 shots he faced in the game for a shutout, but that wasn't the only interesting story of the night. No, I'm not talking about Radim Zahorna's first goal as a Leaf in his Leafs' debut either. I'm talking about Michael Bunting moving back up to the top line.
Midway through the game, Bunting was spotted talking to Sheldon Keefe, who had promoted Bunting back to the top line, alongside Mitch Marner and Auston Matthews. Bunting was the one who opened the scoring for the Buds last night, so perhaps the promotion was purely based on his performance last night.
As we all know, the trio of Bunting, Matthews and Marner was one of the hottest lines in hockey in the 2nd half of last season. There's definitely potential for them to re-discover that magic, but for Bunting, it might mean focusing less post-whistle antics and scuffling to draw penalties and more about continuing to just work hard, finishing his checks, and getting the puck to where it needs to be - on the sticks of Matthews and Marner. It is also worth noting that Keefe did tinker with the notion of rolling a Bunting-Matthews-Jarnkrok trio last night, running Nylander-Tavares-Marner for a brief look.
Bunting has had a bit of a down year in comparison to the one he had last season. His 2021-22 campaign concluded with a 63-point effort over 79 games. This season, however, he is well below that mark, posting only 47 points in 75 games. This was part of the reason he was dropped down to the 2nd and 3rd lines at various points of the season.
Bunting had a 10-game point streak from November 25th through December 15th. Since that streak ended though, it has been a run of wild inconsistency mixed with a slew of bad penalties, which has hindered his team. We don't yet know whether Bunting's new opportunity on the top line in Toronto will be a permanent one, or if it was just temporary, but with the stellar play of Calle Jarnkrok, Bunting will have to remain productive and complementary to his linemates in order to earn a longer stay with Matthews and Marner. Lord knows they could use what he brings to the table in the playoffs.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 2 | 99 ANSWERS Keefe reunites popular line midway through Saturday's win over Ottawa; will it be permanent, or was it just a one-off? Should Bunting remain with Matthews and Marner for the rest of the season and into the playoffs? | ||
| Yes | 29 | 29.3 % |
| No, Jarnkrok should be there | 48 | 48.5 % |
| Bunting, Matthews, Jarnkrok is the play | 22 | 22.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
