“Player Safety is a joke”: NHL fans react as Boston’s Nikita Zadorov fined $5,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct against Evgeni Malkin

Evgeni Malkin and Nikita Zadorov were involved in an incident on Friday night. The two Russian star players were hit with penalties. Zadorov was on the bench but poked Malkin in the back while play was going on in the last minutes of the first period. Malkin turned and swung his stick back in response, connecting with a player sitting beside Zadorov.

Zadorov's actions yielded a $5,000 fine, which is the maximum. Malkin was also fined, but neither was suspended for the action. This drew a reaction from hockey fans, most of whom were upset with the decision.

"Honestly it’s more of a punishment to keep him in the lineup so good call," another added.

"5 grand and you can interfere with on ice players. Should not be same find as Geno," one said.

"Unsportsmanlike means player on bench tryna interfere with player on ice. Got it," one said.

"A real league would suspend both of them," another noted.

It is unclear what drove Zadorov to do that. The Boston Bruins star didn't expound on it after the game and there seems to be no real bad blood between him and Malkin. There was also no way he would get away with interfering with an on-ice player, so Zadorov had to know it would backfire on the team.

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Nikita Zadorov addressed issues after fine

Nikita Zadorov has been hit with a $5,000 fine for his actions in Friday's contest with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He and Evgeni Malkin got into it, and it cost both the team and the player.

Nikita Zadorov was fined for his actions (Imagn)

Zadorov was, understandably, asked about it after the game. He said via NESN:

“We’re old friends, yeah sure. I’m not going to say more about that.”

He also said that interim coach Joe Sacco didn't address it personally with the player, but Sacco wasn't happy about it:

“We don’t need that penalty there," Sacco said postgame via NESN.

Zadorov’s penalty nearly caused a 5-on-3 disadvantage for the Bruins. However, Malkin's retaliation prevented that since Tyler Johnson was already going to the box. Zadorov’s 18th penalty of the season tied him for the most in the NHL.