PITTSBURGH — Without Sidney Crosby, the Penguins needed Evgeni Malkin to step up and lead the offense — as he so often has throughout his career.

Instead, Malkin showed himself the door.

Upset with a cross-check to the back from Rasmus Dahlin on Thursday, Malkin turned around and slashed the Sabres defenseman in the head.

That egregious mental error started a disastrous chain of events for the Penguins. They gave up three unanswered goals in the next 10 minutes, doing most of the damage in a 5-1 loss to Buffalo at PPG Paints Arena.

And it will probably cost Malkin a suspension, as well.

He received a one-game suspension for high-sticking in 2019 and a four-game suspension for cross-checking Nashville's Mark Borowiecki in the face in April 2022.

The Penguins will now presumably be without their top two scorers. Crosby is still on injured reserve with the lower-body injury he suffered at the Olympics. Malkin, second on the team with 47 points, was ejected from Thursday’s game 38 seconds into the second period — and that likely won’t be the end of the discipline he’ll receive.

The Sabres were awarded a five-minute power play after Malkin’s slash. The Penguins’ penalty kill fought off most of it before Josh Norris banged in a rebound from the slot to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead.

The Penguins challenged for goalie interference on the play, as Josh Doan made contact with Arturs Silovs in the crease. But referees ruled Kris Letang pushed Doan into Silovs.

Pittsburgh’s penalty killers stopped the ensuing 5-on-3. But not long after — with the Penguins briefly on the power play — the Sabres got a delayed penalty. Alex Tuch tipped in an Owen Power shot for a 3-1 lead.

It was officially scored as a short-handed goal, but Buffalo had five skaters on the ice.

And four minutes later, in another corner play gone wrong for the Penguins, Power got loose in the circle and flipped the puck past Silovs.

The Sabres have the best record in the league since Dec. 9 (now 26-6-2). They didn’t need help, but one of Pittsburgh’s alternate captains gave it to them.

Both teams scored short-handed in the first period. In a rare occurrence, the Penguins gave up the opening goal of the game. Ben Kindel and Kris Letang misplayed a puck along the boards, and Ryan McLeod raced out on a breakaway. He beat Silovs on a backhand shot through the five-hole.

But as the Pittsburgh power play struggled to generate much of anything — they recorded just one shot in two first-period opportunities — the penalty kill provided some offense.

Kindel won a battle along the boards, and Bryan Rust emerged with the puck. He flew down the ice and executed the “Rusty” move to perfection on Buffalo goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.

That equalizer could have given the Penguins some momentum entering the second period. Instead, Malkin lost his cool, and the game spiraled out of control.

It was over when ...

Power’s goal gave the Sabres a comfortable three-goal lead just past the halfway mark of the game. With the Penguins missing their two leading scorers, that deficit felt like too much to overcome.

Stat of the game

— 25: Pittsburgh’s penalty minutes in the contest — most of them Malkin’s.

Around the boards

— The Penguins played their fifth consecutive game without Crosby. The team announced Feb. 25 that he was expected to miss at least four weeks with a lower-body injury suffered at the Olympics. However, he has been skating in recent days.

— Fourth-line center Blake Lizotte returned after a one-game absence with a lower-body injury.

— Rust leads the Penguins in short-handed goals since 2016-17, with seven in that span.

— This was the first game the Penguins lost by multiple goals since Dec. 23 in Toronto.

— Mattias Samuelsson added an empty-netter with about three minutes to play.

Up next

The Penguins play the second leg of a three-game homestand Saturday at 5:30 p.m. against the Philadelphia Flyers. It will be the final meeting of the season between the intrastate rivals. Pittsburgh has gone 2-0-1 in the first three.

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