We had high expectations on Game 1 between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning, and unless you’re a Maple Leafs fan, you weren’t disappointed. We saw ten goals, big hits, but also some controversial calls from the officials. Michael Bunting has been the talk of the town in the last couple of months.
He’s been handing out cheap shots, some even claim he’s being treated unfairly by officials just because of who he is, and he’s even had some awkward moments with his coach. And in Game 1, Bunting was at it again, with a real cheap shot against Lightning defender Eric Cernak.
The Leafs were down 2-4 in the game with five minutes left of the second period when Bunting earned himself a major penalty and a game misconduct for an elbow to the head of Erik Cernak.
The Lightning took advantage of the penalty, scoring two goals in the following five minutes. That wasn’t the only penalty called on the Leafs last night. Leafs didn’t seem to be able to remain disciplined, and it cost them Game 1.
Michael Bunting will now have a hearing from the Department of Player Safety, and he could be in for a suspension. But despite this, John Tavares thought the referee was to blame for what happened.
“Those calls that are borderline, more likely than not they’re gonna go their way,” he said postgame.
John Tavares is the captain of the Maple Leafs, and many fans slammed him for blaming the refs for the Leafs’ loss.
”Not really the quote you’d expect from a captain after a 7-3 loss where your teammate took a 5 minute major,” one comment that received a lot of thumbs up said.
One Caroline Hurricanes fan added:
”I would be so embarrassed if Staal said this sht after a huge loss. It’s one things for the coaches to say it but Jesus captains shouldn’t be telling the locker room it’s all the refs fault.”
Another wrote:
”Yeah I’m not sure this is the comment to make after that game John. You lost cause you played like sht for 55/60 minutes.”
Another comment that received many thumbs up said:
”Lmao he’s definitely from Toronto.”
READ MORE: Cameras caught Brad Marchand faking his own death before Game 1, and fans can’t stop laughing
