The Washington Capitals’ depth will be put to the test as the NHL announced that they have suspended forward Garnet Hathaway for three games after spitting on an opponent during their game against the Anaheim Ducks on Monday.

The league announced the sanction through their official release and on their Public Relations’ Twitter account as a result of his actions towards Ducks’ defender Erik Gudbranson. The Capitals went on with a 5-2 victory but his retaliation to the officials separating them earned him a match penalty.

Appeared to be just an answer to a rabbit hit by Gudbranson at 19:26 mark in the second period, the 6-foot-2 right wing was caught spitting on Gudbranson in the heat of the melee that is happening behind Anaheim’s net. He was automatically ejected and is facing suspensions on their upcoming games against New York Rangers, Vancouver Canucks, and Florida Panthers.

"That's about as low as you dig a pit, really,” Gudbranson told ESPN. “It's a bad thing to do. It's something you just don't do in a game, and he did it."

The action, though, did not sit well with the fans.

The fracas started when Brendan Leipsic shoved Anaheim’s Derek Grant behind the net as Chandler Stephenson brought the Capitals’ lead to three. Gudbranson was slapped with 10-minute misconduct out of the 50-minute total penalty handed to almost 10 skaters involved in the incident, including Nick Ritchie’s ejection.

Despite the fight that broke out, the Capitals’ win brought them to the top of the standings with 36 points after winning their last two games – won eight of their last game to raise their card to 16-3-4. The Ducks, on the other hand, dropped to 10-10-2 while suffering their fifth loss in their last 10 outings.

Hathaway’s suspension, according to NHL official release, is worth $24,193.53 and it will be added to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

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