WATCH: Capitals Forward Garnet Hathaway Tossed after Spitting on Erik Gubranson

An ugly spat brought out a spit in the game between Washington Capitals and Anaheim Ducks on Monday. Yes, a spit! Capitals forward Garnet Hathaway spit on the Ducks defenseman Erik Gudbranson during a brawl late in the second period.

With about half a minute remaining in the second period, Brendan Leipsic of the Capitals hit  Derek Grant behind the Ducks’ net. It gave rise to a series of altercations between players of the two sides, in the middle of whicha few Capitals players were alert enough to score past an isolated Ducks goalkeeper.

It was during this brawl that Hathaway spit at Gudbranson with referee not far away. The officials, after confirming it video replays, tossed Hathaway- who might be in for some serios action from the NHL.

Hathaway said he regretted the incident, which could spark further punishment from the NHL in the form of a fine or suspension.

“Unfortunately, spit came out of my mouth after I got sucker-punched, and it went onto him,” Hathaway said as per ESPN. “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.”

As for Gudbranson, who was on the receiving end of an ugly incident, said that it was something that should never be seen in the game.

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

Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said he had never experienced such an incident happening on the field.

“These games can get physical, and they can get nasty,” Eakins said. “These guys’ll throw down, drop their gloves. That stuff goes on in the game, but what I saw there I haven’t seen — I think I’ve been in pro hockey 30 years maybe — and I’ve never seen that before. It’s just something you don’t see in the game.”