Two NHL players facing suspension after first preseason weekend.

The National Hockey League's Department of Player Safety has a very busy Monday morning after the first salvo of preseason games took place in the NHL over the weekend.

On Monday, the disciplinary arm of the NHL announced that two different incidents were under review. The first, an incident that took place on Sunday night during the game between the Boston Bruins and the Washington Capitals, will have Washington Capitals veteran Dylan McIlrath facing a potential suspension.

The former first round pick was ejected in his debut game as a member of the Capitals following a nasty hit to the head of Boston's Steven Fogarty. There is no doubt that the hit caught Fogarty square in the head and it was delivered with enough force to knock Fogarty out of the game entirely, this after he spent several moments attempting to regain his senses on the ice after the blow. This is exactly the kind of hit that the league is attempting to get out of the game and I speculated at the time of the incident that this could very well lead to the first suspension of the preseason. It would appear, given the announcement of a hearing today, that McIlrath will indeed be suspended at some point for this infraction.

Here is a replay of the hit on Fogarty:

It seems like there might be a race to determine who the first player to be suspended in the preseason will be however, with Ottawa Senators first round pick Ridly Greig also facing potential discipline. The incident involving Greig also occurred on Sunday night and in this case it was a particularly nasty crosscheck that was delivered to Winnipeg Jets star centerman Pierre Luc Dubois. It was a particularly nasty crosscheck, one that caught Dubois right up in the face, and importantly it was another blow to the head of an opponent. In this case Dubois was left with a pretty nasty gash that would require 15 stitches to clean up, something that will no doubt play a factor in how severe the punishment for Greig will be.

Here is a replay of the crosscheck from Greig: