FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Edmonton Oilers defenseman Jake Walman was fined a total of $10,000 by the NHL on Tuesday for two separate incidents in their Game 3 loss to the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup Final.
Walman was fined $5,000 for "an incident involving Florida's bench" during the second period Monday night. Walman had his glove stolen by Panthers winger A.J. Greer, who deposited the glove into the benches. Walman responded by taking his water bottle and spraying a stream at Florida's players while standing at his own bench, at least four times.
"Yeah, I mean I obviously did that for a reason. I won't go into the details. It's just gamesmanship, I guess," Walman said after the 6-1 loss to Florida, which gave the Panthers a 2-1 series lead. "I've just got to realize there's cameras everywhere and they see that stuff."
Walman was also fined $5,000 for roughing Florida's Matthew Tkachuk in the third period. He delivered a series of gloved punches to Tkachuk's head while the Panthers winger's arms were being held by Edmonton defenseman John Klingberg. Walman was assessed a pair of minor penalties for roughing as well as a minor penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The fines were the maximum allowed under the NHL collective bargaining agreement. The money goes to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.
The Oilers and Panthers combined for 140 penalty minutes in Game 3, the fourth-highest total in a Stanley Cup Final game. Center Leon Draisaitl called their third period, which featured 122 combined penalty minutes, "a UFC fight" between the teams.
"It was just penalty chaos tonight," Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner said. "I'm not sure what I really make of it. I think you just see there's a lot of emotions that are going into this. We're trying to win a Cup. They're trying to win a Cup. So there's a fight."
Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final is scheduled for Thursday night in Sunrise.
