With 14 seconds left in Friday’s 4-1 victory over the Los Angelas Kings, Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin took a nasty head shot at Kings’ rookie Wayne Simmonds. The hit wasn’t penalized, but the intent has undoubtedly been considered dirty .
The intent to injury by Malkin, with no time left on the clock and up three goals, has spurred the argument that if he does not see a suspension, the NHL may possibly be giving star treatment when it comes to discipline. But before you call for Flyers bias, here is what the Pittsburgh Post Gazette had to say.
“That is deserving of a suspension if you ask us. Malkin clearly went after the player’s head. Additionally, there was less than 10 seconds left in the game. If that’s a Flyer delivering a blow, the suspension is almost automatic. Malkin shouldn’t be exempt because he’s a star player. But the NHL has a game on NBC Sunday to worry about so don’t expect Colin Campbell and company to take any action on this.”
If Malkin is suspended, it won’t be before the NHL’s big Flyers-Penguins primetime match up on NBC on Sunday. And if the league does drop the faux one-game suspension hammer just to keep themselves honest on headshots, it could come as late as Monday. But there is no way, anti headshot crusade or not, that the NHL will keep him out of a nationally televised event.
Phila.Bright 