Penguins Notebook: Malkin fined for hit against Kings
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Evgeni Malkin offered the kind of slight smile you see when a little boy has been scolded.
"It's a little bit of money, not suspension," the Penguins center and NHL leading scorer said yesterday after a 3-1 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers at Mellon Arena.
Malkin had a disciplinary hearing by phone with the league Saturday after what was deemed a hit to the head of Los Angeles Kings winger Wayne Simmonds Friday night. He could have been suspended, fined, both or received no penalty. The NHL opted to reach into his wallet for an unspecified amount.
Malkin indicated in halting English that he promised the NHL he would not repeat that kind of hit.
"I'm saying, 'Not more,' " he said. "I play not the same."
When Flyers winger Joffrey Lupul tangled with Penguins captain Sidney Crosby along the boards as the second period ended yesterday, defenseman Sergei Gonchar was the first teammate to come to Crosby's aid.
Gonchar said he got cross-checked by Lupul, who was not penalized. He responded with two cross-checks and received a four-minute, double-minor penalty.
"The guy cross-checked me. I responded," Gonchar said. "Maybe I shouldn't have done it twice, but we're all in it together."
That's it exactly, said Penguins winger Matt Cooke.
"We're there, a pack mentality," Cooke said. "We have to make sure that we're all there. Those penalties, those are the ones that you have to kill off because he's doing what's best for the team."
The Penguins did kill Philadelphia's four-minute power play at the start of the third period, yielding three shots, to stay within 2-0.
"I've got to give our guys credit," Gonchar said. "They did a great job killing the penalties and then after that we had good momentum going and our game picked up from there."
Penguins interim coach Dan Bylsma wasn't entirely pleased with the call or Gonchar's actions.
"The way I saw it -- and I had the benefit of the replay -- is there were reactions by both teams. We got four minutes; they didn't get any," he said.
Malkin and Crosby each got an assist on the Penguins' lone goal, a power-play tally by defensemen Kris Letang.
That increased Malkin's league-leading point total to 105 and put Crosby, who is second in the NHL, at 95.
Neither, however, was credited with a shot on goal. That's the first time this season and the second in the nearly three seasons they have been on the team together that they have both gone without a shot. The other time was March 14, 2007, a 3-0 victory at New Jersey.
"It doesn't bother me one bit," Bylsma said.
A season ago, when the Penguins were vying for Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference titles, their stretch drive was lined with division rivals -- their final eight games and 10 of their last 11.
The NHL schedule-makers did not put that particular emphasis on the 2008-09 season and in the final three weeks, beginning yesterday, the Penguins will have just four division games, all at home. That doesn't make their drive to make the playoffs and finish as high as possible in the standings any less intense.
"No, especially with the way the other teams we're in a race with are playing," Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik said. "They're not giving up many points. The points are just as important, but last year you had those so-called four-point games."
First Published March 23, 2009 12:00 am
