Evgeni Malkin facing suspension for cross checking Mark Borowiecki.

The National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety has put one of the Pittsburgh Penguins' top stars on notice on Monday morning.

The disciplinary arm of the NHL has announced that Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin will have a hearing on Monday evening following what they are now calling a cross check, one that was delivered to the face of Nashville Predators veteran defenseman Mark Borowiecki. At the time the NHL officials on the ice only called Malkin for a high stick to the face of Borowiecki, awarding him with a double minor, and even upon review they chose to uphold the original call they had made on the ice.

The reality of the incident was more akin to what the NHL is now describing, with Malkin first delivering a chop to Borowiecki's side with his stick and then following that up with the cross check-like motion to the face, and this appears to be a rare instance in which the NHL is saying that their officiating crew got things wrong.

There are a couple of factors here that could play heavily against Malkin when it comes to determining the length of his suspension.

The first and perhaps the most damning for Malkin is the fact that Borowiecki was quite clearly busted open as a result of Malkin's stickwork, painting a pretty ugly picture of what he had just done in the eyes of any observer. The second is the fact that this occurred when the period had come to an end, with Malkin seemingly taking his frustrations out on an opposing player after the clock had run out. Last but not least, the fact that there were two distinct moments here in which Malkin strikes Borowiecki also remove any doubt about whether or not this was intentional on the part of the Penguins star.

If you're looking for some positives for Malkin here, the good news is that he was not offered an in person hearing. In incidents where the NHL feels a suspension may require 6 games or more they must offer an in person hearing to the player, which indicates that Malkin is likely only facing a few games at most.

If you haven't seen the incident itself, you can check out the short clip below: