Penguins fans want to focus on Zac Rinaldo’s hit on Simon Despres as being a cheapshot or whatever. Possible. I’m not sure how I feel about that hit. It’s definitely borderline, probably from behind a bit, but there’s some gray area there to be sure.
What’s not gray is Evgeni Malkin’s attempted decapitation of Claude Giroux.
I’d go out on a limb and say that’s worse than Ville Leino’s chicken wing to the head of Matt Read, even though Malkin didn’t connect. Seemed like there was a bit more intent on Malkin’s part than on Leino’s (even though Leino obviously had malicious intent in his elbow too).
