WATCH: K’Andre Miller gets THROWN off ice after spitting on defenceman Drew Doughty, NHL Twitter reacts

K’Andre Miller and Drew Doughty’s spitting incident calls back the 2019 case where a similar situation played but with a bit more intentional move.

<strong>WATCH: K’Andre Miller gets THROWN off ice after spitting on defenceman Drew Doughty, NHL Twitter reacts</strong>

K'Andre Miller and Drew Doughty [Image Credit: NY Post/SportsLumo]

New York Rangers defenceman K’Andre Miller would never have imagined receiving a match penalty in the first round of the game. The 23-year-old got ejected from the game at 16:37 of the first period following his spitting accident on LA Kings Drew Doughty.

Whether it was intentional or not, the Kings’ defenceman seemed pretty “pissed” by the whole fiasco. The NHL world was reminded of the 2019 incident where then-Washington Capitals forward Garnet Hathway got suspended for 3 games after he intentionally spit on then-Anaheim Ducks defenceman Erik Gudbranson.

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The Rangers won against the Kings 5-2 even after Miller got out of the game, leaving the team with just four defensemen. Though during NHL matches a scrum is often seen on the ice, even blood, an incident such as this is a rare occurrence. 

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Related: WATCH: Brad Marchand fined $5K for tripping Oliver Bjorkstrand following 2025 All-Star Game “miserable” taunt on social media

Drew Doughty is in fuming mode after K’Andre Miller spit on him on-ice

K'Andre Miller gets ejected [Image Credit: WTWO]
K’Andre Miller gets ejected [Image Credit: WTWO]

Following the first puck drop, in over just 16 minutes, K’Andre Miller and Drew Doughty ensued a scrum that involved the former spitting on the latter on his face. It sure wasn’t a fun or pleasant experience for the Kings defenceman as he stated to reporters, “Whether or not he meant to do that, I don’t know”. 

“It was a pretty big loogie on my face, so I was pretty pissed.” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant commented in a post-game interview, “The kid feels bad about it. He said it was an accident”. Intentional or not, neither Doughty nor NHL took the matter lightly.

https://twitter.com/Benjarminnnn/status/1629978540719452168

Miller’s ejection from the game came at a completely bad time, as the team wasn’t ready to send out another defenceman Braden Schneider. They didn’t dress up the young defenceman following potential cap space issues. The Rangers are trying to trade in Chicago Blackhawks darkhorse Patrick Kane before the March trade deadline. 

They are one of the strongest competitors in the trade market. Kane has mutually shown interest to be in the team, so work is already underway. Rangers’ trade of Vladimir Tarasenko upset Kane very much and the forward wasn’t shy to address his feeling. His former teammate, and current Rangers alternate captain, Artemi Panarin also voiced his interest in having his old friend back. 

https://twitter.com/FoxtoPanarin/status/1629980001528422402

Regardless of the situation surrounding the trade market, Sunday’s match between Rangers and Kings ended on a bizarre note following the reported unintentional spitting incident. Fans will not be the ones to forget this moment as they have been actively sharing their thoughts on social media.

The National Hockey League Department of Player Safety will further review Sunday’s spitting footage before rendering a result. Throughout this 2022-23 season, Miller made 30 points and 6 goals in 56 games, ranking 2nd on the team with ice time.

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