Washington Capitals center Pierre-Luc Dubois was assessed a match penalty for appearing to pull St. Louis Blues center Robert Thomas to the ice.
Washington Capitals center Pierre-Luc Dubois received a match penalty and was ejected from the game against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
During the third period of the contest, Blues right winger Jimmy Snuggerud was carrying the puck in the offensive zone when center Robert Thomas set a pick in front of the pressing Dubois.
When Thomas and Dubois met, the Capitals center wrapped his arms around the Blues star and pulled him down to the ice.
Dubois was issued 15 penalty minutes. A match penalty is issued to a player who deliberately injures or attempts to injure an opponent in any manner. Thomas also received a minor penalty for interference.
The match penalty means Dubois is automatically suspended until the league rules on the issue. The center is at risk of missing at least Washington's next game against the Utah Mammoth on Thursday.
Before this play from Dubois, there was animosity between the Capitals and Blues earlier in the game.
In the second period, Blues' Otto Stenberg and Caps' Ryan Leonard received five minutes each for fighting.
A little later in that middle frame, Washington's Tom Wilson was handed two minor penalties for roughing Snuggerud, with the St. Louis youngster also receiving two minutes for cross-checking Wilson on the same play. Also in that same scrum, Thomas was given a two-minute penalty for roughing rookie defenseman Cole Hutson.
This was Dubois' 20th game of the campaign for Washington. He's been out for most of the season with abdominal and adductor injuries, forcing him to miss just over three months from Oct. 31 and returning to the lineup on Feb. 5.
Dubois, 27, has four goals and nine points on the season while averaging 17:36 of ice time for the Caps. These numbers come one year after a career-high season, recording 66 points in his first season with Washington.
The Blues went on to defeat the Capitals 3-0 on Tuesday.
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