Malkin, 32, found himself out of the lineup for five games after suffering an upper-body injury. Malkin returned to the lineup after healing from the injury, which was related to his neck, on Monday night in a 4-1 victory at Philadelphia.
So when Philadelphia's Michael Raffl punched Malkin in the back of his neck from behind, the Pens' center snapped.
"I missed five games because I had a problem with my neck," Malkin said. "He hit me behind my neck. I'm upset."
In retaliation, Malkin blindly swung his stick around and struck Raffl on the shoulder. Raffl fell to the ground and Malkin was given a match penalty - which includes an automatic ejection and league review.
The NHL's Department of Player Safety handed down a one-game suspension, which Malkin served on Wednesday night in his team's 3-1 victory against Edmonton.
"One game is OK. I was playing (dangerously). My stick went high," Malkin told the media on Thursday. "My point (to the league) was that I didn't touch his face, I touched his shoulder. I think he dove.
"It's fine. I'll try to forget that. It's a little bad luck for me. Miss one game, miss money, but the team won yesterday. That's good. I'm glad to be back tomorrow."
Malkin also took issue with the fact that Raffl didn't receive a penalty for delivering a questionable blow against a vulnerable player, particularly with the timing of the situation. The Pens had a 3-0 lead with less than five minutes to play in regulation.
"Look at the time, there's four minutes left. We lead 3-0," Malkin said. "We know Philly. They start (crap) when they're losing. I understand it's a tough game, but I think he's playing dirty. The referee didn't give him anything. I didn't understand that. It doesn't matter now."
The Pens, as a whole, are putting the situation behind them.
"It's an emotional game and stuff happens out there," head coach Mike Sullivan said. "All we can do is look forward. We can't change the past. We've got to make sure we react the right way moving forward, all of us, and 'Geno' is no different."
Malkin is happy to move forward from the incident. With 25 games remaining in the regular season and Pittsburgh holding a meager three-point cushion for a playoff spot, there is much work to be done.
"It's a long season. Most important is the playoffs," Malkin said. "If we make the playoffs it's a new life, new challenge for us. We have a great team. We understand it's a tough league. We try to win every game. We'll look to the playoffs. We look forward to being in the playoffs and show our best game in the playoffs."
