Michael Bunting didn’t score the winning goal during the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 7-3 victory against the hated Philadelphia Flyers at PPG Paints Arena on Monday. Officially, that designation went to forward Philip Tomasino who scored the hosts’ fourth goal during a power-play sequence late in the first period. But the goal that kept the Penguins from losing? That went to Bunting, a rambunctious forward.
For most of the second period, the Penguins were flat as the underwhelming but determined Flyers made a valiant push in hopes of tying the contest and came pretty close, pulling within a goal to make it 4-3. Then at 18:48 of the third period, Bunting snuffed out any ambitions the Flyers had of staging a comeback. From his own blue line, Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson snapped a quick pass up ice that allowed Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin to gain the offensive zone on the right wing.
Drawing in Flyers defenseman Cam York, Malkin dished a clever backhand pass to Bunting in the high slot. Blessed with ample ice and time to operate with, Bunting wound up and chopped a slapper from above the upper left hashmark, toasting goaltender Samuel Ersson’s blocker on the near side. “Anytime you’re up 4-1 after the first, you know they’re going to push back,” Bunting said.
“And obviously, we would like to be a little bit better on getting in front of that. But, they pushed back. They’re a good team.
They’re very skilled, and I was fortunate enough to be able to get one .
