PHILADELPHIA -- Evgeni Malkin has been suspended for one game as a result of his high-stick on the Flyers' Michael Raffl, it was announced Tuesday.
Malkin will miss Wednesday's game against the Oilers at PPG Paints Arena.
In the third period of the Penguins' 4-1 win over the Flyers Monday night, Malkin was called for a match penalty for a stick-swinging incident involving the Flyers' Michael Raffl at 15:06 of the third period.
The controversy started after Raffl first crosschecked, and then threw a punch into the back of Malkin's head. After Raffl disengaged and started to skate toward the Flyers' bench, Malkin retaliated by swinging around with a one-handed slash that appeared to have caught Raffl in the helmet:
Raffl was not injured on the play and remained in the game. With Dominik Simon serving the penalty, the Flyers closed out the game on the power play and scored their lone goal on Jakub Voracek's marker at 15:26.
"I know I was not playing smart with five minutes left, but it’s only like one point," Malkin said. "I know it was dirty, but I missed my stick and I touched his, like, shoulder to shoulder, I don’t know.
"Everyone was like give me five minutes. It wasn’t dangerous, he wasn’t bleeding or anything. I know it gave them a five-minute power play and it was my fault for sure, but just play smart next time."
Malkin was assessed 10 minutes in penalties, giving him 876 in his career or 172 shy of Kevin Stevens.
Since the start of the 2010-11 season, Malkin has never been suspended and he's been fined just once. That came last Jan. 19, when he was docked a league-maximum of $5,000 for spearing the Kings' Dustin Brown.
It was the second match penalty that Malkin has been called for this season. In the Penguins' 2-1 loss in Washington on Nov. 7, he was penalized for throwing a shoulder into the head of the Capitals' T.J. Oshie. However, the Department of Player Safety declined to further punish Malkin.
Sullivan did not defend Malkin's actions on Monday night, but he reiterated that there was no injury on the play.
"I think on Geno's part, it was reactionary or it was a battle between the two of them," Sullivan said. "I think it was reactionary. I was a little surprised it was a match because the player didn't get hurt on it or there wasn't real significant contact but that's not how the referee saw it."
Dejan shared his thoughts on the suspension on Twitter:
Evgeni Malkin suspended one game by NHL for high-sticking Michael Raffl. Getting two match penalties in the same season, no one would get away with just a fine. That's just the process. #DKPS #Penguins https://t.co/6p0b0FZRfa
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) February 12, 2019
Finally, consider that Malkin gets an additional three days now for that injury to more fully clear up. Penguins don't play again -- after Oilers game he'll now miss -- until Saturday against the Flames. #DKPS #Penguins
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) February 12, 2019
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