Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin was ejected from Thursday’s game for his slash to the head of Buffalo Sabres captain Rasmus Dahlin.
And now he will sit out five games after the NHL Player Safety department announced a suspension on Friday, March 6, for the center. He will forfeit $158,854.15 in pay.
Malkin was responding on March 5 to a cross-check from Dahlin near the Sabres net in the second period. He swung his stick and hit Dahlin in the side of the face, receiving two minutes for cross-checking and five minutes and a game misconduct for slashing.
‘This is a dangerous stick swing that strikes an opponent at a dangerous height and is delivered with requisite force for supplemental discipline,’ the department said in a video.
Malkin has a history of being suspended for stick infractions. He received a four-game suspension in 2022 for cross-checking and a one-game suspension in 2019 for slashing. He also has been fined five times, including once this season for slashing.
What is the impact of the Evgeni Malkin suspension?
The timing isn’t good because Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is out with an injury suffered at the Olympics. His initial timeline was he would miss four weeks after the Olympics, but he was at practice on Friday.
The Penguins currently sit in second place in the Metropolitan Division.