Michael Bunting was given two minutes for elbowing midway through the third period on Monday and did not accept the verdict. The Philadelphia Flyers forward believed Linus Karlsson had gone down too easily to draw it.
He was still unhappy when Karlsson drew a second penalty shortly afterwards, and this time he made sure the Vancouver Canucks forward could hear him from the bench.
“F***ing embarrassing, Karlsson,” Bunting said. “I’ll beat the f**k out of you.”
The Canucks’ own account posted the clip, noting that Bunting had some choice words for Karlsson.
Linus Karlsson this season:
| Games | Goals | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 19 | 4 | 10 |
Has Michael Bunting been suspended before?
The 2023 playoffs cost him three games, for something considerably more serious than a shouting match. Bunting caught Tampa Bay defenseman Erik Cernak with an illegal check to the head in the opening game of Toronto’s first-round series, and Cernak left the ice needing help and missed the next one.
“Bunting’s arm and elbow make direct and forceful contact with the head of Cernak, and it is the head that absorbs nearly all of the force of the check,” the league said at the time.
He led Toronto in penalty minutes with 103 that season, having said beforehand that he intended to be more careful in the postseason.
Monday’s complaint did at least have a basis. One observer watching the Bunting reaction suggested he deserved a second minor for embellishing the protest about the embellishment.
Vancouver got nothing out of the power play that followed, with Jonathan Lekkerimaki hitting the crossbar, and lost the game.
Karlsson has been one of the few bright spots in a difficult Vancouver season, with four goals and ten points through 19 games on a low cap hit, which has already made him a name in trade speculation.
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