Michael Bunting has really turned it on as of late, recording 13 points in his last 12 games, including a huge goal for the Leafs last night to open the scoring against the red hot Tampa Bay Lightning. However, it wasn't his play on offense that had Bunting in the headlines on Tuesday - it was actually the actions of an NHL linesman, Dan Kelly, that had the focus on Bunting.
At the end of the first period last night, Bolts winger Pierre-Edouard Bellemare took a run at Leafs superstar Mitch Marner. Bunting took exception to the hit and went after Bellemare. As the officials were looking to gain control of the situation, Kelly escorted Bunting to an open gate to usher him off the ice. Irked by Bunting's jawing at Bellemare and any other Bolts player in sight, Kelly delivered a series of hard shoves to Bunting, nearly knocking him over through the open gate. You can see the replay of the incident below:
The reaction to the ordeal from pundits and analysts from across the league that the actions of Kelly were completely unnecessary, unwarranted and crossed a line. When Bunting was asked about the play after last night's game, however, he downplayed the incident and chalked it up to emotions running high, giving Kelly the benefit of the doubt.
Regardless of whether or not Bunting had an issue with the incident, an official cannot use excessive force and abuse his power towards a player like that. He should still be reprimanded by the league and anything short of that is a wild miss by the NHL and invites future similar events to occur.
