NHL issues warning to Habs and Capitals ahead of Game 4.

The National Hockey League is putting its foot down.

It seems that the NHL is getting directly involved in the ongoing opening round series between the Montreal Canadiens and Washington Capitals, with reports coming out now about a stern warning that has been issued to both of the teams in this series.

According to a report from Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports, the NHL has issued a warning to both the Capitals and the Canadiens ahead of Game 4 later today. Lavoie reports that the league has issued a stern warning to both teams about the activities that have taken placed during warmups, television timeouts and at the end of a period following a number of incidents between the two teams.

We saw all hell break loose during Game 3, and this appears to be a clear response to what happened in that game. Most notably there was an incident between Tom Wilson and Josh Anderson that resulted in a bizarre bench filling brawl, and that was likely the cause of this warning.

Lavoie indicates that the league did not like what it saw during the last game, which could mean some harsh penalties if it happens again during Game 4.

The Canadiens will be playing their second home game of the series and looking to tie up that series at 2-2 on Sunday, and with emotions undoubtedly running high in that scenario it remains to be seen if both teams will be able to maintain control throughout the game.