Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin, left, takes a shot at Henrik Zetterberg late in Game 2. (Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin will not be suspended after receiving an instigator penalty in the closing seconds of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup final, the NHL announced after Sunday's contest.
Malkin was hit with a five-minute major for fighting, plus the instigator penalty and a game misconduct after fighting with Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg during a melee with 19 seconds left in the Penguins' 3-1 loss.
NHL rules state that "a player who is deemed to be the instigator of an altercation in the final five minutes or at any time in overtime shall be suspended for one game, pending a review of the incident."
Colin Campbell, the NHL's executive in charge of discipline, decided that a one-game ban for Malkin wasn't warranted.
"Suspensions are applied under this rule when a team attempts to send a message in the last five minutes by having a player instigate a fight," Campbell said in a statement. "A suspension could also be applied when a player seeks retribution for a prior incident. Neither was the case here and therefore the one game suspension is rescinded."
Campbell made a similar ruling earlier in the playoffs, electing not to suspend Carolina Hurricanes forward Scott Walker after he punched Boston Bruins defenceman Aaron Ward in the face in the third period of Game 5 of the teams' second-round series. Walker was fined $2,500 US.
Malkin, who leads all playoff scorers with 30 points, had his team's only goal in Sunday's defeat in Detroit, which put the Penguins in a two-game-to-none hole in the best-of-seven series.
Game 3 is set for Tuesday night in Pittsburgh (CBC, CBCSports.ca, 8 p.m. ET).
