Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin has been suspended four games for crosschecking Nashville Predators defenceman Mark Borowiecki. The incident occurred during the second period of their matchup on Sunday, where the Penguins won 3-2 in overtime.
Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin has been suspended for four games for Cross-checking Nashville’s Mark Borowiecki. https://t.co/rNDNPzkLMw
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) April 12, 2022
Evgeni Malkin Suspended Four Games For Crosschecking
This is the second time Malkin has gotten suspended, with the most recent time being in 2019, when he was suspended in 2019 for high sticking Michael Raffl. Malkin, 35, is a point per game this season with 37 points in 37 games. He has tied his amount of penalty minutes from last season with 24, and there are still eight more games to go in the NHL season for the Penguins.
The crosscheck caught Borowiecki in the mouth and left him bleeding, which required attention from the medical staff.
This season, Borowiecki has played 48 games so far this season with 3 points and 128 penalty minutes. Borowiecki is not expected to miss time because of this crosscheck, considering it only drew blood.
What This Means For The Penguins
For the Penguins, this is quite costly considering they only have eight games remaining in the season. With this suspension taking up half of the games remaining, the Pens have to go without their second-line centre, meaning they will have to shuffle the nines for their next 4 matchups. Malkin can suit up against the Detroit Red Wings on April 23rd.
This also means Malkin will have to miss more time this season. He has missed a lot of time in the last few seasons as he has struggled to stay healthy. This suspension doesn’t help, as it keeps him off the ice for four more games. Thankfully, the Penguins don’t have as tough of a schedule while Malkin is out, playing the New York Islanders twice, and the Boston Bruins twice. The Bruins will be a bit of a challenge for the Penguins, but the Islanders shouldn’t be too tough of a challenge considering how underwhelming they have been this season.
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