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Evgeni Malkin Named NHL’s First Star; Zbynek Michalek, Alex Ovechkin Hearings Today

Published: 23rd Jan 12 12:47 pm
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Troy Pfaff
Featured NHL Columnist and Pittsburgh Pirates Writer

Evgeni Malkin continued his torrid scoring pace this weekend and was rewarded for it.

Malkin had a goal and two assists yesterday against the Washington Capitals and now has a three-point lead on Philadelphia’s Claude Giroux for the NHL scoring lead.

This morning, Malkin was named the NHL’s first star of the week. His 26 goals and 32 assists rank third and seventh, respectively.

“I have great confidence now, you know?” Malkin told NHL.com. “You win six games (in a row), I think everyone has great confidence now. I just am enjoying the game, you know? And having fun.”

Malkin is on a six-game goal streak, recording nine goals over that span. Seven of those goals have come in the third period or overtime.

Penguins defenseman Zbynek Michalek delivered an elbow to the head of Washington’s Matt Hendricks during yesterday’s game on a check from behind. Michalek was assessed a two-minute penalty on the play. The league has scheduled a phone hearing with Michalek for 10 A.M. this morning. No news has broken yet on the result, but I expect nothing more than a fine for Michalek’s first such offense.

Alex Ovechkin, on the other hand, has a history of suspensions and questionable hits, as we saw in yesterday’s game. About four minutes into the second period, Ovechkin left his feet to hit Michalek, making contact with the defenseman’s head. Watch:

Somehow, no penalty was called on the play. We’ve seen this dozens of times from the Russian super star, and we’ve seen a stunning lack of penalties called on his hits. He finally did it on national television and the NBC announcers finally acknowledged that the league should review the hit and that a penalty should have been assessed.

Ovechkin’s hearing is scheduled for 1:30 PM today.

Follow Troy on Twitter @TroyPfaff

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