Tough wakeup call awaits Matthew Knies

The Toronto Maple Leafs not only lost their opening Stanley Cup Playoff game against the Tampa Bay Lightning in dominating fashion, but also lost forward Michael Bunting for the next three. 

The feisty sophomore forward was suspended for the next three after he was thrown from last night's tilt after catching Lightning defenceman Erik Cernak up high with what appeared to be his elbow.

“He has put himself into a bad spot, but we have options if needed and we will move things around,” Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said of Bunting. “We think (Matthew Knies) is a great option for us. In the games that he has played, I think he did a good job. He’s taken care of all he can do in the short amount of time he has been here.”

Not long after the decision came down from the NHL Department of Player Safety, speculation began to grow that forward Matthew Knies, who was recently inked to a three year entry level deal after completing his season at the University of Minnesota, could replace Bunting in the lineup. 

“We think he’s a great option for us,” Keefe said of Knies. “We brought him in here for a reason and gave him (regular-season) games for a reason.”

“That’d be awesome,” Knies himself stated about potentially playing in Game 2. “Every kid’s dream is to play in the playoffs and play for the Stanley Cup, so I’d be super-stoked and pumped to be a part of it and just try to contribute.”

He'll have to expect major differences between playing at the collegiate and professional levels, however.

“Instead of a 24-year-old, you have a 28-year-old bearing down on you who’s been in the league for eight years,” Zach Aston-Reese explained. 

“Baptism by fire,” Aston-Reese continued. “You learn quick. With one game, you realize, ‘Oh, s—.’”

Tomorrow's Game 2 between the Maple Leafs and Lightning will get underway starting at 7:30 PM EST from Scotiabank Arena.