“Boys being boys I guess, just trying to make investments for the next game.” This was Kris Knoblauch‘s postgame assessment of the mayhem that unfolded on June 9 at the Amerant Bank Arena. 140 penalty minutes were dished out in Game 3 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Finals. Of that, the Oilers carried 85 minutes. In fact, the latest verdict on one of the perpetrators is out. The NHL has imposed further sanctions on an Oilers defenseman for what he did to Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk. And the punishment seems apt.

According to the NHL Player Safety’s tweet on June 10, Edmonton Oilers Dman Jake Walman is being fined a total of $ 10,000 for his offenses in Game 3. The NHL Department of Player Safety made the final decision, which they announced on X: “Edmonton’s Jake Walman has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for roughing Florida’s Matthew Tkachuk.” And then there was another offence from the Oilers blueliner.

The tweet further read, “Walman has also been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for unsportsmanlike conduct for an incident involving Florida’s bench”. This incident involves the 29-year-old spraying water from a bottle towards the Panthers’ bench area during the game. It all started with Panthers forward A.J. Greer stealing Walman’s gloves and throwing it in the Panthers’ bench area. That ticked the Oilers man off.

The water ended up falling on the video screens used for the TNT television broadcast, which are between the benches. After the game, talking to NHL.com, Walman made his stance clear, “Obviously, (Greer) did that for a reason. I won’t go into the details. It’s just gamesmanship.” In total, Walman had 3 2-minute minor penalties, one of which involved a roughing session with Matthew Tkachuk with 5 minutes left in the 3rd period.

Walman really went after his man as the ref had to keep them apart. In fact, that was not the only altercation Tkachuk had in the game. Fights and roughing were breaking out by the minute in the 3rd period. But the Panthers alternate captain didn’t mind being part of one. “If you have to take a punch, take a punch. If you have to take a cross-check, take a cross-check. Spear, a slash in the face, whatever the case is, you’ve got to take it.”

The point was to get the Oilers to lose their head. The Panthers were already winning the game handsomely. All they needed was hockey to stop and chaos to reign.

Matthew Tkachuk not the only guy the Oilers targeted

The Panthers started the game with more intensity, more determination. They kept the Likes of Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl quiet. Meanwhile, cheap penalties conceded by Evander Kane saw the 2024 Stanley Cup Champions score from the powerplay to make it 2-0. By the 7:26 of the 2nd period, the Panthers had taken a 4-1 lead. The Oilers didn’t even come close.

And while the Florida team knew how to fiddle with the line, the Oilers were not that skilled. Frustration of being by far the second-best team on the night crept in. And once they started to throw punches and jabs at their opponents, the Panthers just gladly bought it. The Oilers targeted Sam Bennett, who had been pushing the line with his hits.

Darnell Nurse and Jonah Gadjovich had a literal grappling contest, which was so aggressive, the refs just decided to stay out of it. Yes, literally, the refs waited for the 2 guys to get tired before they came to the crime scene and made the penalty decisions. In total, 5 Oilers players got a 10-minute major game misconduct. From the Panthers’ side, there were 3.

Will there be any more fines that the NHL will announce later? It wouldn’t be shocking. What we saw in the 3rd period of Game 3 was craziness taking over in a Stanley Cup Finals game.