Michael Bunting caused chaos all night in the game between Toronto and Detroit. It started with him throwing a hit near the boards, then getting cross-checked and going down. The refs called offsetting minors, but also hit Bunting with an embellishment penalty. He was furious and chirped all the way to the box, arguing that the hit wasn’t soft and he didn’t deserve the extra call. In the box, he kept jawing at his opponent, who told him he’d only ever heard bad things about him. Bunting shrugged it off and fired back. They never stopped yapping.
Things boiled over more at the end of the second period. A scrum broke out, and Bunting jumped in as the third man. Detroit’s Lucas Raymond started punching Bunting’s arm while Bunting held him. Bunting responded with a quick jab to the chin, then ducked behind a ref. Raymond tried to chase him, but things got broken up.
Later on, Bunting found a Detroit player’s stick on the ice and stepped on it to keep it from being picked up. When a Detroit player shoved him, Bunting used the momentum to drag the stick even farther away with his skates. The ref saw it and gave him a 10-minute misconduct. It was the only major penalty handed out in that sequence. After the game, Bunting admitted he plays on that edge and embraces the attention it draws. He’s not planning to change. Whether fans love him or hate him, he made sure everyone was talking about him by the end of the night.