When Adam Henrique of the Edmonton Oilers said, “You land a punch, you take a punch,” it was a subtle admittance that playing Games 3 and 4 on the Florida Panthers’ home ice would be a formidable challenge. However, Henrique, or anybody from the Edmonton camp, probably wasn’t expecting that things would get this heated this fast.

The Florida Panthers walked away with a massive 6-1 win tonight to lead the best-of-7 Stanley Cup Finals 2-1. But it wasn’t just the relentless goals that kept the home fans going berserk. It was also the constant fights that kept breaking out on the ice. But, going perfectly well with the trend of the losing team trying to explain the defeat, one Oilers star also posited that the match officials were the main reason behind Edmonton’s misery at the Amerant Bank Arena.

In a YouTube upload by the official Edmonton Oilers account from June 9, winger Evander Kane was heard noting his dissatisfaction over how the referees officiated tonight’s match. “There seems to be a little bit more attention in our group,” the Oilers’ star claimed that the refs turned a blind eye toward the Florida Panthers’ infractions as compared to how punishment was meted out to the visitors.

“Look at some of the calls and whatnot. Obviously, some of them are frustrating, you know. They seem to get away with it more than we do,” Kane was audibly agitated by how the Florida Panthers were almost being safeguarded by the refs, while every other misconduct by the Oilers seemed to catch their eyes. Debatable? Of course!

The Athletic‘s Chris Johnston pointed out after the game that there was a total of 140 penalty minutes recorded in Game 3 between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers. “You will not see many Stanley Cup Final games like that one,” joked the NHL insider. The official X account of The Hockey news also couldn’t stay away from noting its amusement at how physical the Game 3 between the Cats and the visitors was today.

Captioned, “Are you not entertained?” (this your cue to smile, The Gladiator fans), the X post from Monday showed how stars from both teams, from the Florida Panthers’ Sam Bennett and Anton Lundell to the Oilers’ Evander Kane and Corey Perry were flagged by the refs for their in-game misconducts. So, in a way, Kane’s accusations that the refs let the hosts off the hook weren’t exactly true.

But one is true: The Edmonton Oilers’ squad was but a shadow of its true self tonight.

The Florida Panthers looked miles ahead of the Western Conference champs

Apart from Corey Perry’s lone goal in the second period, the visitors had little to show for in Game 3. Brad Marchand’s incredible start to the game with a goal in 56 seconds after the puck drop once again highlighted just how much steam he still has left in his engines, despite being 37 years of age. Carter Varhaeghe, Sam Reinhart, Sam Bennett, Aaron Ekblad, and Evan Rodrigues only made the night worse for Kris Knoblauch’s boys.

There was also a major gap in the skills of the two goalies at the Amerant Bank Arena on Monday night. The Oilers’ netminder, Stuart Skinner, allowed 5 goals on the 23 shots he faced, whereas the Florida Panthers didn’t have to worry about their visitors leveling the game with Sergei Bobrovsky executing his responsibilities with gusto. The Russian kept Edmonton at bay with 32 total saves.

Naturally, Skinner was ready to take the fall for the Oilers’ hefty loss. But the squad captain, Connor McDavid, wasn’t having any of it and insisted that the entire team was to blame for the final result. Game 4 will see the Stanley Cup resume at the Amerant Bank Arena on Thursday. How do you see that panning out? Share your predictions with us!