Aube-Kubel suspended 3 games for illegal check vs. Lightning originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

The NHL Department of Player Safety suspended Capitals winger Nicolas Aube-Kubel three games Saturday for his illegal check to the head of Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Cal Foote during the second period of Washington’s 5-1 win Friday, the league announced. It is the first suspension of his NHL career.

Playing in his third game for the Capitals since being claimed off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Aube-Kubel leveled Foote with an open-ice hit that ignited several fights between the two teams. Capitals winger Garnet Hathaway and Lightning winger Pat Maroon were both fined for “unsportsmanlike conduct” after they got tangled up during the replay review.

“Aube-Kubel chooses an angle of approach that cuts across the front of Foote’s body, missing his core and picking his head,” a Player Safety spokesperson said in a video breakdown of the play. “If Aube-Kubel wants to deliver this hit, he must stay low and choose an angle that leads to a full-body check through the shoulder and core rather than one that makes the head the main point of contact.”

Aube-Kubel was ejected from the game and given a five-minute match penalty, which was served by winger Sonny Milano. With the score 1-0 at the time, the Capitals killed the penalty and Milano scored on a breakaway as he left the box.

Foote left the game with blood on his face and didn’t return. The Lightning have not yet provided an update on his status for Sunday, when the two teams will square off once again in the second leg of a home-and-home series.