Photo: Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images

The Capitals beat the Ducks convincingly, 5-2, Monday night at Capital One Arena. But the overriding story of the night was the melee that ensued at the end of the second period. The dust-up included the usual punches, headlocks and face washes, but also included a severe sucker punch thrown by the Ducks’ Erik Gudbranson to Capitals Garnet Hathaway. Hathaway would respond by spitting on Gudbranson, resulting in Hathaway getting ejected from the game.

A small snip of the entire incident. (A video of the entire 10-minute incident can be found here)

Gudbranson was initially the third man in on a tussle Hathaway was having with the Ducks Nick Ritchie. Gudbranson would then split Hathaway and Ritchie, and eventually land a solid sucker punch to Hathaway’s jaw. It also appears that Ritchie, in the back, being restrained by the official, may have landed a sucker punch to Hathaway as well, right after Gudbranson delivered his.

Video: NBC Sports Washington

The Anaheim Ducks twitter account tweeted this clip after the incident occurred, clearly showing Hathaway spitting on Gudbranson following the sucker punch, but conveniently omitted the sucker punch by Gudbranson.

By the way, here’s the reason for the match penalty for Garnet Hathaway. pic.twitter.com/e3W97zFSKV

— Anaheim Ducks (@AnaheimDucks) November 19, 2019

Hathaway met with the media following the game to give his side of the story. He was remorseful for how he reacted to the sucker punch.

Here’s how Hathaway saw it go down. pic.twitter.com/b7PhGT7ZJA

— NBC Sports Capitals (@NBCSCapitals) November 19, 2019

Hathaway would add that spitting on a player “has no place” and that it “was an emotional play by me.”

Hathaway on spitting incident with Gudbranson: “Yeah, it has no place. It was an emotional play by me. You don’t plan any of that stuff in your head and it was a quick reaction and unfortunately the wrong one for me to a sucker punch.”

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) November 19, 2019

After the game, Gudbranson met with the Washington media to discuss the incident, and give his side of the story.

Gudbranson to reporters in Ducks’ room: “It’s just disrespectful. I mean, we’re competing. That’s fine. I’ve got no problem with guys fighting. That’s what this game is all about is guys fighting to win hockey gms & sometimes that’s what happens. But going to that level is wrong”

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) November 19, 2019

Hathaway received a match penalty, which will require a meeting with the league before he can return to play. He could very well receive a suspension, which would leave the Capitals in somewhat dire straits, considering the current injuries to Carl Hagelin and Nic Dowd, and no salary cap space available to procure reinforcements.

Re Hathaway’s match penalty … all match penalties trigger an automatic DOPS review or the NHL’s Hockey Operations Department review. The act of spitting can be suspendable, with players have being disciplined for such action in the past. Normally handled by Hockey Ops, not DOPS

— Samantha Pell (@SamanthaJPell) November 19, 2019

The same two teams will meet again in two weeks, on December 6th in Anaheim. The Capitals next face the Rangers in New York on Wednesday.

By Jon Sorensen