Suspensions From Monday Night

A pair of suspensions were indeed handed down from the NHL on Tuesday afternoon after Game Three between the Lightning and Penguins on Monday night.

Lightning forward Steve Downie was given a 1-game suspension for his charge on Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy, where the gritty forward launched himself into the defenseman skating around the net.  It comes on the heels of some very questionable hits in the past few days, but a previous record was likely given an extra look for the play.  As the rule of thumb says, one playoff game is generally counted like two regular season games, so the suspension does seem reasonable.

Also getting 1-game ban was Penguins forward Chris Kunitz, as he delivered a clear elbow to the head of Lightning forward Simon Gagne.  The elbow was a clear shot to the head and although there isn't as much written into the rules about blatant head shots, it is under the guise of being less tolerant about these sorts of hits.

Both players will miss Game Four of this series, missing out on a key game in the series and a player game in the pool.  Kunitz belongs in Box 15 in the East, but was not taken at all between 76 teams, while Downie is in Box 17, taken six times.  These two suspensions may not have much impact in the pool at all, by the looks of things.