Bruins Nikita Zadorov To Face A Suspension For Hitting A Player While On The Bench
Boston Bruins defenseman Nikita Zadorov may face a suspension for hitting Evgeni Malkin with his stick from the bench.
Nikita Zadorov has faced a lot of scrutiny since joining the Boston Bruins as he has 48 penalty minutes in just 24 games with the Boston Bruins, and during the first period of the game, he didn't make his case any better.
Towards the end of the first period the Pittsburgh Penguins had a delayed penalty coming up, and were getting ready to go on the power play, when Nikita Zadorov tried to suck Evgeni Malkin into taking a penalty by hitting him with his stick while he was on the bench.
Malkin was sitting at the Bruins blue line near the Bruins bench when Zadorov thought it would be a good idea to hit Malkin with his stick, in retaliation, Malkin turned around and swung his stick, hitting a Bruins player in the head with his stick on the bench.
Malkin was immediately called for a penalty for swinging his stick at Bruins players on the bench, and the refs ended up reviewing the play, and ended up calling Zadorov for an unsportsmanlike penalty.
Take a look:
This is just classless by Malkin, there is no reason to turn around and swing your stick at players heads on the bench. On the other hand, what a terrible penalty for Zadorov to take while sitting on the bench.
There is just no reason for Zadorov to take this penalty, and both of the players may end up having a hearing from the NHL or facing fines for their plays.
