Pierre Luc-Dubois saw his night end early in the Capitals’ 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
Midway through the third period, officials assessed Dubois a match penalty for intent to injure following an incident with Blues forward Robert Thomas. Thomas set a pick on a puckless Dubois at the faceoff circle before Dubois wrapped his arms around him, pulling them both to the ice.
Thomas hit his head in the fall and did not return to the game; Blues head coach Jim Montgomery later confirmed that Thomas was healthy and had passed concussion protocol.
Officials upheld Dubois’ match penalty after video review, with an additional interference penalty called on Thomas for the initial contact.
Dubois was visibly incensed after the review, seemingly calling the decision “f***ing bulls**t” as he went to the locker room.
“If you’re a lip reader, you can tell what Dubois’ sentiments were,” noted Capitals play-by-play commentator Joe Beninati.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery leveled his own criticism of the call postgame, highlighting Thomas’ interference beforehand.
“The issue that I have with that play is — so they call the penalty. Robert Thomas is obviously setting a pick there on Dubie, where he’s impeding his ability to skate through and continue to check the player that he was trying to check,” Carbery said. “So he’s getting interfered with, and now he’s trying to get around him, and then they get wrapped up.
“It’s unfortunate that Thomas gets injured there, but to me, he initiates the contact — obviously, they called it interference penalty, which Thomas initiates the contact. And then they get locked up [and] go to the ground, and unfortunately, he gets hurt. But to me, that’s not even close to a match penalty the way that I saw it, on the replay, 10 or 12 times.”
“It’s a tough one,” added Matt Roy. “I don’t agree with that one, but it is what it is.”
Dylan Strome took specific issue with officials’ characterization of Dubois’ motives, arguing that Dubois would not have deliberately injured an opponent.
“Yeah, interesting play, I guess,” Strome said. “Obviously (Dubois) gets interfered with, and then unfortunately Thomas’ face hits the ice, and they saw it as a major. I’ve known Dubie for a while, and I don’t think he’s trying to slam his head on the ice.
“It feels like one of those freak accident plays. It could have gone both ways, but unfortunate timing…It’s tough to lose a guy like that in a game like this. But I feel like there was no malicious intent, it felt like.”
Montgomery, meanwhile, didn’t accuse Dubois of hurting Thomas intentionally, but he wasn’t happy with the play, pointing to both the Blues’ extended time in the offensive zone and Thomas’ inability to shield himself from the fall.
“I thought Thomas had his back to him and was occupying space that he’s entitled to. He doesn’t have to skate out of that space. And I just think they were tired and it was a way to get out of it, right? I don’t think that Thomas could have done anything to have braced himself.
“So that’s not the type of play that — you want a guy to always be able to at least get his arms out and brace, break his fall, but he wasn’t allowed to do it, the way that it happened. I’m not going to judge anyone’s intent, but it’s just not a good-looking play.”
Per NHL Rule 21, Dubois’ match penalty triggers an automatic suspension until league commissioner Gary Bettman reviews the case. If the NHL Department of Player Safety opts to investigate further, Dubois could face supplemental discipline for the first time in his nine-season NHL career.