Penguins' Malkin given major penalty for slashing Sabres defenseman Dahlin

Penguins coach Dan Muse didn't comment on Malkin's penalty after the game.

“He's obviously a catalyst for our team,” said Bryan Rust, who scored Pittsburgh's only goal. “He drives a lot of play and creates a lot of offense. He's an unbelievable player, so it's unfortunate.”

Josh Norris scored on the power play at 4:10 to give the Sabres a 2-1 lead. Alex Tuch added a short-handed goal at 6:18, and Owen Power made it 4-1 with 9:30 to go in the period.

The 39-year-old Malkin has been suspended twice in his NHL career, one game for high-sticking Philadelphia’s Michael Raffl in February 2019, and four games in April 2022 for cross-checking Nashville’s Mark Borowiecki.

“Hopefully, he served his time (Thursday) and that's it,” defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “He's a big part of this team. He's been playing great hockey and gives us a different dimension to our offensive game.”

Malkin's 10-game home points streak ended Thursday. He has 13 goals and 47 points in 46 games.

Pittsburgh is already without captain Sidney Crosby for a minimum of four weeks because of a lower-body injury.

“I think we've shown throughout the year that we're a pretty deep team,” Karlsson said. “We miss both of those guys, but it's nothing that we haven't done before.”

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