PITTSBURGH — Alex Nedeljkovic called out his team about as publicly as a goaltender can. Evgeni Malkin enjoyed the signature game of his season, putting the finishing touches on a comeback victory.
In between all the madness, Boko Imama threw some fuel on the fire that once was hockey’s most heated rivalry.
Imama’s controversial hit and Nedeljkovic’s temper tantrum paved the way for Malkin’s overtime winner in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 5-4 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena.
MALKIN COMPLETES THE COMEBACK FOR THE PENS 🚨 pic.twitter.com/dxrsk6nkZq
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 28, 2025
It was a night of visceral emotions.
Mike Sullivan’s birthday looked like a dud when the Flyers scored to go ahead 3-0 in the second period. Matvei Michkov’s goal gave the Flyers, who beat the Penguins 6-1 only 48 hours earlier in Philadelphia, what felt like an insurmountable lead. The Penguins’ coach decided to yank Nedeljkovic at that point. Nedeljkovic responded by breaking his stick off the crossbar. He then skated to the bench and screamed at his teammates and perhaps at the coaching staff, though it was unclear which people were on the receiving end of Nedeljkovic’s rant.
The Penguins pull Nedeljkovic and he is NOT happy about it 😳 pic.twitter.com/g1xZ2nXY4y
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) February 28, 2025
The goaltender then slammed the door shut on the Penguins bench and stormed to the dressing room before returning to the bench. He sat stone-faced on the bench for the rest of the game.
It was a unique way for a goaltender to respond to the news he was being yanked. Sullivan didn’t mind it.
“I have no problem with Ned’s reaction,” he said. “For me, that’s just an indication of how invested he is. He cares. He’s competitive. He wants to win. That’s raw emotion. Quite honestly, I thought he inspired the group to want to compete for him.”
That much was confirmed.
Philip Tomasino scored less than two minutes later.
Tommer 🙌 pic.twitter.com/OF0O4UO4by
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 28, 2025
Two Erik Karlsson goals and Malkin’s tying tally in the third sent the game to overtime, where Malkin won it.
BINGO.
That’s three points tonight for Evgeni Malkin! pic.twitter.com/Wwk3QbnrYK
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 28, 2025
“We were all frustrated,” Tomasino said. “Honestly, he gave us kind of a wake-up call. We had left him hung out to try a bit. It kind of motivated our group.”
After Karlsson pulled the Penguins within a goal, Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway took a run at Noel Acciari. Imama saw it out of the corner of his eye and unloaded on an unsuspecting Hathaway, ramming him shoulder-first to the ice. Hathaway’s head bounced off the ice, which appeared to knock him out cold. He remained on the ice for a couple of minutes before teammates helped him to the bench.
Garnet Hathaway was helped off the ice after taking a hit from Bokondji Imama.
The hit was reviewed for a major penalty but was ultimately ruled a 2-minute minor for interference. pic.twitter.com/OSTDFI8ese
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 28, 2025
Imama was initially given a five-minute major for interference. However, after a review, the infraction was ruled a two-minute minor for interference.
Flyers coach John Tortorella vehemently disagreed.
Hear from Torts following tonight’s OT loss in Pittsburgh. #PHIvsPIT pic.twitter.com/GHWgdFMuri
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) February 28, 2025
“The explanation was that it was not a hit to the head on the hit, that he hit his head on the ice,” Tortorella said. “That’s why it was a two-minute penalty. It’s probably one of the dirtiest hits I’ve seen in quite a while. That’s why he hits his head on the ice. I believe we should be thinking about what really happened on the hit. Not get glued on the hit to the head originally. That’s a dangerous, cheap hit. Freddy (referee Frederick L’Ecuyer) gave me an explanation. I understand the explanation. But I don’t understand how you end up with two minutes on probably one of the dirtiest hits I’ve seen in a while.”
Imama had a distinctly different take on the hit. He spoke with The Athletic after the game and explained his mindset.
“I was pretty confident (that the major would be overturned),” he said. “My intention was never to be dirty or to hurt anyone. I always play clean. Obviously, it’s a physical game. Unfortunately, things like this can happen. I didn’t get a chance to see the replay. But I knew, deep down, I had the right intention. I just wanted to bump him.”
Imama saw Hathaway take a run at Acciari.
“Yeah, absolutely,” he said. “I just know what kind of a player he is, too.”
Imama said he had asked Hathaway to fight on numerous occasions earlier in the game.
“Yes, I did,” he said. “And it didn’t happen.”
Thus, he decided to take matters into his own hands when he saw Hathaway take a run at a teammate.
“Look, he didn’t want to engage in a fight,” Imama said. “Usually, I would just turn around and challenge him fairly. But that isn’t going to happen with him. I just wanted to get in his way.”
Tortorella didn’t believe Imama had bad intentions but still strongly disliked the hit.
“I don’t think the player is trying to hurt a player,” he said. “I’m certainly not going to accuse him of that. It’s a cheap hit, though. Garny hits Acciari there. It’s a good, legal hit. He’s trying to hit him back. But the puck is nowhere there. It’s a blind hit. I’m not accusing the guy of trying to hurt him. But it’s a dirty hit.”
Ten postgame observations
• Nedeljkovic’s reaction was something. He wasn’t available to speak with the media, so his thoughts will remain a mystery for a couple of days (the Penguins don’t practice Friday).
The guy is a real competitor. I give him credit, too, because it can’t be easy to display that much alpha behavior when you’re playing for the Penguins. He’s surrounded by guys who are going to be in the Hockey Hall of Fame, players who have numerous Stanley Cup rings.
But he still speaks his mind. His team was sleepwalking through the first half, and it speaks highly of his desire to win that he launched into a tirade.
• This was the 12th time the Penguins have allowed a goal on the opponent’s first shot. It’s the fourth time Nedeljkovic has been beaten on the first shot. Tristan Jarry has done it six times. Joel Blomqvist has been beaten twice by the first shot. Given this was their 61st game, the simple math tells me the Penguins give up a goal on the first shot 19.6 percent of the time. You simply can’t win games when this happens so regularly. You’re essentially spotting your opponent a goal in one out of every five games.
Let’s put this in perspective: Mario Lemieux, arguably the most gifted goal scorer in NHL history, finished his illustrious career with a 19.0 shot percentage.
Incredible.
• High marks to Blomqvist, who was excellent in relief of Nedeljkovic. He stopped 21 of 22 shots. Make no mistake, the Flyers were the better team for most of the night and were very much in control during the third period. Malkin did his part, sending the game to overtime with his tying goal. But Blomqvist held down the fort for the remainder of the period.
It was a good bounce-back for him. Blomqvist has struggled mightily lately. I imagine he’ll get the start Saturday against the Boston Bruins.
• Malkin has been the Penguins’ best player in their past four games. That two-week break during the Four Nations Face-Off — and remember, he missed a few games before that stretch after getting injured in Seattle about a month ago — gave him a surge of energy.
He has his legs right now, and when he has his legs to this magnitude, he’s still an awfully dangerous player. Quite a performance.
• Karlsson was outstanding all game. He’s a difficult player to figure out. Karlsson has been so disappointing in his two seasons with the Penguins. Any objective person would agree with this.
EK65 with a 🚀 pic.twitter.com/j9OT9FUNFX
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 28, 2025
And yet, some nights, he still looks like Karlsson. You know, the guy the Penguins thought they were getting.
NO QUIT IN EK65. pic.twitter.com/XkaB6fj3Gy
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) February 28, 2025
This was one of those nights. Every touch of the puck was outstanding.
• I spoke privately with Tortorella after his news conference, and he had nice things to say about Imama. He doesn’t think he’s a dirty player, but he hated the hit. After speaking with Tortorella and Imama, I agreed with everything they said.
I don’t think Imama had bad intentions, but it was a nasty, blindside hit. A five-minute major probably would have been a fair ruling. That said, Imama isn’t wrong that Hathaway crosses the line. He does.
Imama and Tortorella both made good points. Sometimes in hockey, there’s some gray area. This was one of those times.
• Is the Penguins-Flyers rivalry back? I hope so. It’s been far too quiet for far too long
• Ryan Graves was awarded an assist on Malkin’s tying goal, his first point of the season. Really.
He’s been solid lately and shouldn’t have been a scratch in Philadelphia on Tuesday.
• Good for the Penguins for showing the guts to come back and win. But I can’t get over how inexplicably bad their start was. They were embarrassed two nights earlier in Philadelphia against their biggest rival. You get a rematch on home ice and can’t produce a shot on goal in the first 10 minutes? Not acceptable.
• I wouldn’t want to fight Imama, either. Tough customer.
(Photo of Evgeni Malkin celebrating his game-winning goal with Rickard Rakell: Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)
