With a goal and an assist last night against the Ottawa Senators, Leafs' forward Michael Bunting recorded his 60th and 61st points of the season. Not only was this enough to help propel the Buds to a 5-4 overtime win against the Sens, this also gave the Leafs six players with 60 points or more on the season.
No other team in the league has six 60-point players this season. In fact, to find the last team that had six players with at least 60 points, we have to travel back to the 2007 Buffalo Sabres squad, when Danny Briere, Thomas Vanek, Chris Drury, Jason Pominville, Derek Roy and Maxim Afinogenov all recorded more than 60 points, helping the Buffalo Sabres win the Presidents Trophy.
It is no secret that this Maple Leafs team can score, but to accomplish something no team has done in 15 years shows how many different offensive weapons this team has. Now, perhaps it is not a surprise that Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Tavares hit the sixty point mark given the offensive ability of this four. But for Morgan Rielly, a defensemen, to amass more than 60 points in a season illustrates what a good season he is having. It is rare for defensemen to score 60 points in a year. In the salary cap era, a defenseman has recorded 60 points or more in a single season only 57 times.
As for Michael Bunting, the season he has had is remarkable. And while he benefits from playing with Marner and Matthews, they benefit from playing with him as well. Bunting is exactly what that line needed. A guy who can recover pucks but still keep up with the pace of highly skilled players. And while Kyle Dubas believed in the player, it is hard to imagine he thought he would be getting a 60 point player.
With so much fire power up front, it is an exciting time to be a Leafs fan. The big question is, can this team continue to produce offensively in two weeks when the playoffs start?
