Nicolas Aube-Kubel facing suspension for dirty hit.

The National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety has taken notice of a dangerous hit that occurred on Friday night during a game contested between the Washington Capitals and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

The disciplinary arm of the league has now officially announced that Washington Capitals forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel will have a hearing on Saturday for a hit he delivered to the head of Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Cal Foote.

It seems extremely likely that this will lead to a suspension for Aube-Kubel given that this appears to be a clear cut case of a hit where the head is the primary point of contact.

The hit occurred in the opening minutes of the game's second period and came as a result of Aube-Kubel cutting across the neutral zone in an attempt to deliver a hit on Foote who was moving the puck up the ice. While Aube-Kubel was successful in making contact, there's little doubt about the fact that it was Foote's head that took the brunt of the impact here.

The hit in turn would lead to chaos on the ice with several other players getting involved, including Lightning forward Pat Maroon and Capitals forward Garnet Hathaway who dropped the gloves well after things appeared to have settled down.

The only question now appears to be how many games Aube-Kubel will get from the NHL's Department of Player Safety, a less than ideal scenario for the Capitals who have had Aube-Kubel play just 3 games for them since claiming him off waivers from the Toronto Maple Leafs.