PHILADELPHIA — Evgeni Malkin admitted that angrily swinging his stick at Philadelphia Flyers forward Michael Raffl late in Monday’s 4-1 win was “dirty” and not very smart.
But Malkin suggested he felt the match penalty he received, which booted him from the game and put the Flyers on a five-minute power play, was excessive given the outcome. His dangerous one-handed swing appeared to only nick Raffl, if it hit him at all.
“I’m not trying to hit his face. … I know it's dirty, but I missed,” Malkin said. “He just like dived and the referee give me five minutes. [He wasn’t] injured, not bleeding, nothing.”
Malkin added that Raffl “played dirty,” too, by punching him in the back of the head.
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, agreed with that take while coming to Malkin’s defense.
“I just think on Geno’s part it was reactionary. He was getting punched in the back of the head [by Raffl]. It was a battle between the two of them and I think it was reactionary,” Sullivan said. “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.”
We’ll see how the NHL’s Department of Player Safety sees it. The NHL announced late Monday night that Malkin would have a hearing Tuesday for swinging his stick at Raffl.
Malkin did acknowledge that “it’s my fault for sure” and that he has to be smarter.
It was an eventful night for Malkin in his return to action after a five-game absence.
Malkin, who suffered an upper-body injury Jan. 30, said he felt fine after the win.
“It’s always a little bit nervous when you get back, your first game,” Malkin said.
Malkin played with Phil Kessel on his left and Nick Bjugstad on his right. That trio connected in the second, with Malkin getting the primary helper on Bjugstad’s first Penguins goal.
“I like what we did. My line, we played tough tonight,” the big Russian said.
Matt Vensel: mvensel@post-gazette.com and Twitter @mattvensel. Click here to subscribe to our weekly From The Point hockey newsletter.
First Published: February 12, 2019, 5:04 a.m.
