Things get heated after Malkin fires a shot at Tocchet on the Flyers' bench

Things are getting heated in Pittsburgh tonight!

With the Pittsburgh Penguins down 3-1 in their first round playoff matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers, they're pulling out all the stops. And that apparently includes taking out the Flyers' coaching staff.

Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin appeared to purposefully fire a puck onto the Flyers' bench, a move that sent Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet into a frenzy.

Check it out:

Obviously, that move put a target on Malkin's back and Flyers forward Garnet Hathaway dumped Hathaway on his next shift.

Check it out:

Old time hockey!

Read below for our earlier report on this game.

Philadelphia Flyers head coach Rick Tocchet has elected to make forward Matvei Michkov a healthy scratch for Game 5 against the Pittsburgh Penguins this evening.

The 21 year old former 7th overall pick (2023 NHL Draft) has gone pointless in four playoff games thus far and there have been calls for Tocchet to remove him from the lineup.

It's expected that 22 year old rookie Alex Bump will take Michkov's spot in the lineup.

There's no denying Michkov's skill, but his tendency to shrink away when things get difficult has to be of concern to the Flyers and their fanbase. Given that the team wants to end this series against Pittsburgh as quickly as possible and to not let things fester, this seems like a shrewd, if not completely savage decision by Tocchet.