Sheldon Keefe comes to a decision on whether or not to play Michael Bunting in Game 5
Michael Bunting was undoubtedly chomping at the bit to get back into a game following the 3-game suspension he was forced to serve after he clipped Lightning defenseman Erik Cernak in the head back in Game 1. Unfortunately for Bunting, that's just not in the cards for him on Thursday night in Game 5.
During practice on Wednesday, Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe had Bunting skating in a bottom six white jersey, leading many to believe that that's where he'd slot in. However, when line rushes began, these were the four lines that Sheldon Keefe decided to run:
Järnkrok � Matthews � Nylander
Knies � Tavares � Marner
Kerfoot � O'Reilly � Acciari
Aston-Reese � Kämpf � Lafferty
Bunting's inconspicuous absence from the top 12 is a bit surprising, but then again, if it's not broke, don't fix it. The Leafs are 3-0 since Bunting came out of the lineup, so there really isn't any good reason to make changes to the roster.
The best argument to make for slotting Bunting back in immediately is that he had 49 points this season, including 23 goals - well ahead of someone like Zach Aston-Reese, who posted just 14 points this year. However, with Aston-Reese already having scored in this series, and with the strong defensive play from the Leafs' 4th line, Keefe likely didn't want to mess with the chemistry - nor should he.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 26 | 585 ANSWERS Sheldon Keefe comes to a decision on whether or not to play Michael Bunting in Game 5 Is Keefe making a mistake by not dressing Michael Bunting in Game 5? | ||
| No, Bunting has become a liability | 309 | 52.8 % |
| Yes, Bunting is too good to sit | 66 | 11.3 % |
| I'm willing to just wait and see | 210 | 35.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
