Bunting, who missed the Maple Leafs' final three-regular season games and a 5-0 win in Game 1 against the Lightning in Game 1 on Monday because of a knee injury, took line rushes at practice Tuesday in his usual spot at left wing alongside center Auston Matthews and right wing Mitchell Marner.
"As long as it continues to go well in terms of not having any flare-up or negative reaction, then we think he'll be ready to play," Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe said Tuesday. "If there's a setback in that sense, then we will give him a little bit more time."
Bunting is the second significant player added to the Toronto lineup in as many playoff games; forward Ondrej Kase had two assists in 13:29 of ice time in Game 1 after missing 20 games with a concussion.
Bunting, who led NHL rookies with 63 points (23 goals, 40 assists) in 79 games during the regular season, will replace forward Kyle Clifford in the lineup for Game 2. Clifford was suspended one game by the NHL for boarding Lightning forward Ross Colton in the first period of Game 1.
"It's day by day," Bunting said after practice Tuesday. "I felt pretty good out there, obviously I was in regular line rushes and I felt good, I felt like my speed was there and everything like that, so I'm pretty happy with it."
Keefe said: "He's a competitor; he's produced offensively for us. He's been a really good contributor to that line with Auston] Matthews and [Mitchell] Marner and then it just makes us another player deeper."
***[RELATED: [Complete Maple Leafs vs. Lightning series coverage]*
Toronto's depth already improved in Game 1 with the return of Kase, who played for the first time since sustaining a concussion on March 19. He assisted on defenseman Jake Muzzin's goal that gave the Maple Leafs a 1-0 lead at 18:19 of the first period when he dug the puck out of the corner and got it to the Maple Leafs defenseman at the blue line for a point shot.
"It feels amazing," Kase said. "I'm really excited."
"It's never easy to go back after an injury and especially since it was first playoff game, but the crowd was unbelievable there so they helped me go in, and I think like we did a great job."
Kase had three shots and helped kill off 33 seconds of a five-minute major penalty to forward Kyle Clifford for boarding Lightning defenseman Ross Colton at 6:59 of the first period; Clifford received a one-game suspension from the NHL Department of Player Safety on Tuesday.
Kase had 2:14 of ice time while shorthanded in Game 1; Toronto was 5-for-5 on the penalty kill.
"Thrilled," Keefe said. "He did look like himself. I had a number of (video) clips here today where he is absolutely giving us everything he has on forecheck, backcheck, puck battles. We threw him right into the penalty kill and he was good there.
"I was thrilled that he not only played the game and got through the game but he did it confidently and didn't change his game, didn't alter how his approach is. He just went out and played, so that's a really good sign for us and him."
