Monday night’s Game 5 matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers picked up right where the series left off.
On the very first shift of the game, Penguins star Evgeni Malkin drew the ire of Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet after the former seemed to purposefully fire a puck into Philadelphia’s bench. The backhanded puck nearly struck Flyers assistant coach Jay Varady right in the face.
“You almost hit him in the head,” Tocchet could be seen yelling at Malkin.
Evgeni Malkin fires puck into Flyers bench
Malkin was not penalized for the play, but was immediately engaged by Cam York and received a slash from forward Travis Konecny.
The Flyers continued to target the Russian centerman later in the period, as he got into an altercation with Konecny, Travis Sanheim, and Garnet Hathaway.
Hathaway received two penalties on the play, while Malkin, Konecny, and Anthony Mantha also took seats in the penalty box.
Penguins and Flyers scrum leads to five minor penalties
Malkin has three points (2g, 1a) in the series, which was tied for second on the Penguins coming into play on Monday night. The 39-year-old forward does not have a contract past this season.
Pittsburgh is trying to win a second game in a row after going down 3-0 to start the series. The Penguins are up 3-2 after two periods, getting goals from Elmer Soderblom, Connor Dewar, and Kris Letang. Only four teams in NHL history have overcome a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-7 series.
