The Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins possess one of the fiercest rivalries in hockey, and on Monday night, the nastiness reared its head once again.
In the later stages of the third period, Malkin took a punch in the head from Michael Raffl. Fighting for the puck in front of the Flyers bench, Malkin spun around and swung his stick, grazing the head of Raffl.
You can watch the clip by clicking here.
Malkin has assessed a match penalty and was kicked out of the game as a result. Hockey is an emotional sport, but Malkin has to do a better job of keeping his emotions in check there, as he very well could've hit Raffl in the face, or worse, one of his eyes with his blade.
The 32-year-old returned to the Penguins lineup after missing four games with an upper-body injury, and could conceivably miss more time if George Parros and the NHL Player Safety Department issues out a suspension. The Pens went 1-3-1 without Malkin in their lineup.
The Pens went onto to defeat the Flyers 4-1 thanks to a 50-save performance from Matt Murray.
UPDATE:
