Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin received a game misconduct penalty during Monday night's game against Philadelphia for swinging his stick at Flyers left winger Michael Raffl.
It happened with just under five minutes left in the third period. Malkin was controlling the puck near the boards and turned his back towards Raffl to protect the puck. Raffl cross-checked Malkin in the back and tried to wrap him up from behind so a teammate could grab the puck. Malkin was able to knock the puck away, at which point Raffl punched Malkin in the back of the head. At that point, Malkin had enough and lost his temper, swinging his stick at Raffl's head.
It's unclear whether Malkin's stick actually hit Raffl's head, but Raffl went down right away and the referee blew the whistle immediately. Malkin headed to the locker room after being tossed, while his penalty time was served in the box by Dominik Simon.
Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin will have a hearing Tuesday for High-sticking/Slashing Philadelphia’s Michael Raffl.— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) February 12, 2019
The Flyers scored on the power play resulting from Malkin's penalty, but it was not enough to change the outcome as the Penguins beat the Flyers 4-1.
As for Malkin, he will have a hearing Tuesday with the NHL Department of Player Safety to discuss the play and whether he will receive any further punishment.
[SportsNet]
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
