“You will not see many Stanley Cup Final games like that one, 140 total penalty minutes,” wrote TSN’s Chris Johnston after Game 3 between the Oilers and the Panthers. Things went south for Edmonton barely a minute after the puck drop when Brad Marchand scored the opening goal. While they tried to answer back, the Panthers absolutely wiped the floor with their opponents, forcing mistakes and penalties.

“It was just penalty chaos tonight,” Stuart Skinner later said after Kris Knoblauch pulled him in the third period. However, giving away penalties or getting outplayed wasn’t the only issue the Oilers faced, as their inability to score goals frustrated the players, who started getting into brawls. Now, the NHL Player Safety has decided that Jake Walman took things too far, as a mysterious injury raised concerns ahead of Game 4.

“Edmonton’s Jake Walman has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for roughing Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk,” the official Player Safety handle announced on X. Yet, this wasn’t the only punishment. “Walman has also been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for unsportsmanlike conduct for an incident involving Florida’s bench,” they added.

It’s not rare for the NHL Player Safety to step in after the game. Remember Florida Panthers’ Aaron Ekblad’s suspension for elbowing Tampa Bay Lightning’s Brandon Hagel despite the officials not even noticing the hit? However, it isn’t common for player safety to play on multiple fines. Then again, Walman was not in the mood for discipline during Game 3.

That’s because the Edmonton Oilers’ defenseman roughed up Matthew Tkachuk after the officials had already punished seven players for a massive brawl. What’s worse? Walman landed the punches while John Klingberg held the Florida Panthers’ alternate captain. This comes after everyone became aware of Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ undisclosed injury during Game 3.

Nugent-Hopkins found himself on the bench when the game started and couldn’t make a difference when he did play. Now, he’s missed Tuesday’s practice, raising further concerns among fans. With 5 goals and 13 assists, the 32-year-old has been a crucial part of the Oilers’ success. Yet, it was the other “incident involving Florida’s bench” that Player Safety fined the 29-year-old for that truly angered Oilers fans.

Edmonton Oilers fans call out NHL Player Safety

From direct jibes to veiled sarcasm, Oilers Nation went all out on the player safety decision to fine Walman. “AWESOME DECISION! Spraying Florida with a water bottle is WAY more dangerous than any of Sam Bennett’s plays this playoffs. Great job @NHLPlayerSafety,” commented one fan. Yes, you read that right. The league fined Jake Walman for spraying water at the Panthers’ bench.

The fan also took a cheeky jab at the NHL for not penalizing Sam Bennett for his hit on Maple Leafs goalie Anthony Stolarz. “An elbow to the head, clear as day,” said Leafs coach Craig Berube after the game. The hit led to the Leafs having to pull their starting goalie. Maybe that’s why others also called out the league.

“NHL is the softest league in sports. So he squirted their bench with water? Big deal,” called out a second fan. So what really happened? Well, things were starting to heat up between Edmonton and Florida from the second period. While they were not throwing hands yet, players like the Oilers’ Corey Perry and the Cats’ Jonah Gadjovich were getting into verbal altercations.

It was during one of these chaotic moments when the Panthers’ A.J. Greer got his hands on one of Walmans’ gloves and deposited it on the bench. This sparked the hockey defenseman to react by spraying the Panthers players on the bench with water. “Yeah, I mean, I obviously did that for a reason. I won’t go into the details. It’s just gamesmanship, I guess,” the Edmonton defenseman later told the press.

“I’ve just got to realize there’s cameras everywhere and they see that stuff,” the 29-year-old added. One fan directly called the NHL biased. “Three minor penalties and 10k in fines for one play. Is there precedent for that, or is this cause it was on NHL’s golden boy, Matthew Tkachuk?” complained the angry fan. Yet it’s not like the NHL has not punished Matthew Tkachuk.

Flashback to the Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Florida Panthers ECF Game 3, where the 27-year-old sent Jake Guentzel sprawling on the ice. The result? The officials ruled it a 5-minute major penalty and ejected Tkachuk. “Did Tkachuk get anything when he followed Aho around and jumped him for a full shift last series?” commented another angry Edmonton fan.

While the ‘full shift’ claim would be an exaggeration, Tkachuk did get into it with Sebastian Aho late in Game 3. The Panthers’ star hit the Hurricanes’ captain with some shoves and cross-checks before taking him down. And that indeed punished the Cats’ forward for his actions. The officials handed him a 10-minute misconduct penalty and ejected the star.

That being said, Jake Walman was far from the only player who let his emotions get the better of him on the ice in Game 3. Fellow Edmonton Oilers defenseman Evander Kane also took two penalties within 2:41 minutes of the first period, as per ESPN. He also slashed at Carter Verhaeghe in the third period. What’s more? The Panthers, as per usual, didn’t back away from any fights.

So it’s no wonder one fan was asking what the NHL plans to do about the rest of the problems. “And what about the rest of the s— that happened last night?” asked the fan. So, how did you feel about the NHL slapping Jake Walman with two fines? Do you believe the others deserve fines, too? Tell us in the comments.