Well, the NHL has decided that there's no doubt Chris Pronger intentionally hit Dean McAmmond in the head with his elbow and because McAmmond was injured Pronger has been suspended for game four.

For those with the game on tape or Tivo I would direct you to the 12:16 mark of the second period. There you'll see Chris Neil take six strides and then put both forearms into the head of Andy McDonald. Neil was not trying to separate the man from the puck with a body check, he was trying to send a message and he was trying to hit McDonald as hard as he could in the head. But, McDonald was not hurt so there is no outcry and Neil is not suspended.

Ducks General Manager Brian Burke brought this up to NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell and here's what he got in response: "He said the player wasn't injured, so mind my own business."

Apparently the message from the league is that you can do whatever you want as long as the player you do it to does not get hurt. Great message. Neil's intent was every bit as malicious as Pronger's, and I would suggest it was more so. The score was 3-2 at the time in favor of the Ducks and Neil was doing his job trying to put a big hit on an All-Star player in an effort to get his team some momentum.

I disagree with the suspension given to Pronger because I still don't think Pronger was without a doubt trying to elbow him in the head. He stuck out his elbow and hit him in the head, but I don't think he stuck out his elbow TO hit him in the head. There's a difference, however slight, but it's the difference in my mind between something that should be suspended and something that should not be suspended.

The inconsistency in the way the NHL has handed out justice does not sit well with me. If one is a suspension, why is the other not? Is the league really giving the green light to guys like Chris Neil to run All-Star centers? If so, Shawn Thornton can get a head of steam and put his forearms into Jason Spezza tomorrow night. No, Spezza wouid get hurt and there'd be a suspension. Nevermind.

To make up for the loss of Pronger the Ducks will most likely dress Joe DiPenta who has played a ton of games for them this season and who is a good third pairing defenseman. Ric Jackman and Kent Huskins will see more minutes and the onus of continuing to shutdown the Senators top line falls to Scott Niedermayer and Francois Beauchemin.

Obviously the league felt that Pronger's hit was egregious and needed to be punished. I disagree. However, the decision to sit him out coupled with the way penalties have been called against the Ducks in this series (goalie interference on minor contact two feet outside the crease, roughing for pulling a jersey after Spezza tries to scalp you, diving when you're hit from behind by Fisher, etc.) does not bode well for Anaheim in game four. Especially if they are to call things that tightly against the Ducks but not tightly at all against the Senators.

But, game four starts 0-0 and Anaheim will have a chance to take a 3-1 series lead. I don't think they will win game four because I expect them to get the short end of every single marginal call for the fourth game in-a-row, but I hold out hope.

For the Ducks to win they need to get back to playing as much of the game at even strength as possible. They dominate the Senators at even-strength (one of Ottawa's even-strength goals last night came when the Ducks only had four men on the ice!) and the more time they spend with five men on the ice the better their chances to win will be. I just hope the refs call a fair game.

So far in this series the Senators have had 18 power plays and three 5-on-3's (one in each game). The Ducks have had 11 power plays and no 5-on-3's. Two of those 11 power plays were :24 seconds and :11 seconds, respectively, so in reality the Senators have had twice as many power plays as the Ducks through three games. Yes, the Ducks play an aggressive game but are they twice as aggressive as the Senators? I don't think so.

Anaheim needs to play an extremely clean game while still being aggressive. The way this series has been officiated that's about as likely as eating healthy in a donut shop. The pressure is going to be on the Ducks penalty kill and their goaltending. J.S. Giguere is going to have to be very good and will most likely have to significantly outplay Ray Emery. If Emery plays like he did in game three that won't be hard.

When the Ducks were without Chris Pronger for game four of the Red Wings series they were able to win and evened up the series but that series was much different. Game four was at home and the Red Wings are not as good offensively as the Senators. This is a much bigger challenge for Anaheim, one I'm not sure they are up to.

I fully expected this series to be tied 2-2 after four games and it appears that will indeed be the case. If, however, the Ducks are able to win game four than it will be that much sweeter knowing that they did it without Chris Pronger.

For more NHL coverage please check out the Puck Podcast on iTunes and FOXSports.com. This week we've got an interview with play-by-play man Sam Rosen who's calling the Finals for Westwood One radio.

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