NHL star Evgeni Malkin ejected for slashing opponent across the face, could face suspension

Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin lost his cool during the second period of the team’s 5-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres Thursday at PPG Paints Arena and slashed Rasmus Dahlin across the face.

After the whistle blew just 38 seconds into the second period, Dahlin and Malkin confronted one another. Dahlin cross-checked Malkin, and the Penguins star responded by bringing his stick up and whacking Dahlin across the face.

After slashing Dahlin, Malkin wrapped up Dahlin behind the head, and the two were eventually separated.

Dahlin received a cross-checking penalty for his infraction, while Malkin received a penalty for cross-checking and a five-minute major for slashing and was ejected from the game.

Penguins head coach Dan Muse didn’t comment on Malkin’s penalty after the game.

“He’s obviously a catalyst for our team,” said Bryan Rust, who scored Pittsburgh’s only goal. “He drives a lot of play and creates a lot of offense. He’s an unbelievable player, so it’s unfortunate.”

Sabres forward Josh Norris scored on the power play from Malkin’s penalty to make it 2-1, and the Sabres never looked back after that.

Malkin, who has been suspended twice in his career, has a hearing with the NHL’s Player Safety Department Friday. Malkin was suspended one game for high-sticking the Philadelphia Flyers’ Michael Raffl in February 2019 and four games in April 2022 for cross-checking the Nashville Predators’ Mark Borowiecki.

“Hopefully, he served his time (Thursday), and that’s it,” defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “He’s a big part of this team. He’s been playing great hockey and gives us a different dimension to our offensive game.”

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Malkin’s 10-game home points streak ended Thursday. He has 13 goals and 47 points in 46 games. The Penguins are without Sidney Crosby due to an injury he sustained during the Olympics and have been relying on Malkin to pick up the slack.

Losing Malkin to a suspension for any period of time would be a blow to the Penguins.

“I think we’ve shown throughout the year that we’re a pretty deep team,” Karlsson said. “We miss both of those guys, but it’s nothing that we haven’t done before.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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