Evgeni Malkin could soon find himself on a conference call with the NHL’s department of player safety after the Pittsburgh Penguins centre was ejected from Wednesday night’s game against the Washington Capitals.
Malkin was assessed a major penalty for an illegal hit to the head and a game misconduct after laying out T.J. Oshie early in the third period.
As you can see in the video at the top of the page, as Malkin crosses the Washington blue line he drops the puck to a teammate before skating right through a backchecking Oshie.
Malkin’s right shoulder connected directly with Oshie’s head. One of the replay angles clearly shows that Malkin sees Oshie coming when he leans into him.
The game was tied 1-1 at the time of Malkin’s five-minute penalty, which the Penguins managed to kill off successfully.
Oshie went to the Capitals locker room following the hit and missed more than 10 minutes of the third stanza before returning late in the period and scoring the go-ahead goal with 74 seconds remaining.
The Capitals won 2-1.
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