Penguins Head Coach FIRMLY comments on Kessel yelling at teammates on the bench.

On Monday night in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Final, frustration seemed to boil over between teammates Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin as the two men came off the ice after a shift. Kessel appeared to be in pain as he was headed back to the bench and he could be seen shouting something at Malkin although it’s hard to make out what was being said. 

Whatever it was it appeared to set off Malkin who looked furious on the bench, causing head coach Mike Sullivan to step in as he attempted to calm down Evgeni Malkin. 

“It’s emotional. They’re heated for all the right reasons—because they’re invested… We call it a man’s argument.” Firmly said Mike Sullivan following a question on how he perceived Kessel’s behavior on the bench. 

“It’s hard to be ultra-competitive in the absence of emotion,” added Mike Sullivan.”He’s all in. He wants to win. Quite honestly, I think the rest of our team gets a kick out of him.”