It was almost a guarantee that the NHL’s Department of Player Safety (DoPS) would have work to do after a hectic Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final between the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers. Earlier Tuesday, the DoPS shared that it had fined Oilers defenseman Jake Walman a total of $10K, the maximum allowable under the current collective bargaining agreement.
Walman earned a pair of fines from Monday night’s events. Walman received two minor penalties for the first incident, along with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for roughing Matthew Tkachuk. Meanwhile, Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad also received two minor penalties for roughing while defending his teammate.
The second incident took place outside the area of play. As he was exiting the ice, Walman had his glove taken and subsequently thrown into Florida’s bench by Panthers forward A.J. Greer. In response, Walman took one of the Oilers’ water bottles and began spraying it toward the Panthers’ bench, which earned an automatic fine.
Surprisingly, the DoPS only bestowed additional punishment to Walman from the contest, and doesn’t seem likely to issue more. There were 35 penalties called in Game 3, of various forms, with 26 of them coming in the third period. Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse led the way with 19 PIMs, while Florida forward Jonah Gadjovich led the opposition with 15.
