Lightning and Caps brawl, will meet again Sunday

WASHINGTON -- The Washington Capitals bushed the Tampa Bay Lightning 5-1 connected Friday nighttime successful a crippled afloat of boiling tensions and a mates of fights.

The Capitals won contempt playing astir 2 periods down a guardant aft Nicolas Aube-Kubel was fixed a lucifer punishment for an amerciable cheque to the caput of Lightning defenseman Cal Foote, who did not instrumentality and was not doing good afterward, according to manager Jon Cooper.

"Not great," Cooper said. "He evidently couldn't travel back. That's a pugnacious hit. That defines the connection blindside. It's excessively atrocious we're playing them again (Sunday) due to the fact that I uncertainty helium volition beryllium astir to spot the game.''

Tampa Bay's Patrick Maroon fought Washington's Garnet Hathaway portion officials were reviewing Aube-Kubel's caput changeable to Foote aboriginal successful the 2nd period. A fistful of different players were progressive successful the archetypal scrum, and they exchanged immoderate pushes and shoves astir the combat erstwhile Maroon and Hathaway got tangled up.

Nick Paul hopped disconnected the seat for a 2nd earlier being urged backmost by Lightning teammates to debar what would person been an automatic 10-game suspension.

Aube-Kubel was ejected and assessed a lucifer penalty, which is an automatic suspension pending reappraisal by the NHL's section of subordinate safety. If suspended, he'd miss astatine slightest the 2nd fractional of these teams' home-and-home bid Sunday, if not more.

The Capitals killed disconnected each 5 minutes, and Sonny Milano -- who was serving Aubel-Kubel's punishment -- scored coming retired of the container connected a breakaway 7 seconds aft the Lightning powerfulness play expired.

Maroon, 1 of 4 players successful league past to triumph the Stanley Cup successful 3 consecutive seasons with 2 antithetic teams, and Washington's Hathaway each got 5 minutes for warring and a 10-minute misconduct.

Foote near the crystal and was ruled retired for the remainder of the crippled astatine the 2nd intermission.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.