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After a number of fists and game misconducts in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, a further punishment has been handed down.
Edmonton Oilers defenseman Jake Walman was fined a total of $10,000 for both punching Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers in the face, and squirting water on the Florida bench.
Tkachuk was held down by John Klinberg while Walman wailed at him.
Tkachuk is no stranger to getting into bouts on the biggest stage. As a member of Team USA, he dropped the gloves at the opening faceoff of the 4 Nations game against Canada (his brother, Brady, fought his own Panthers teammate, Sam Bennett).
So, when things got chippy during the Panthers’ blowout of the Oilers, Tkachuk was prepared.
“We talked about it in the third. If you have to take a punch in the face, take a punch in the face. If you have to take a cross-check, take a cross-check. Spear, slash in the face, whatever the case is, you’ve got to take it,” Tkachuk said after the contest.
There were 140 penalty minutes in the contest, the fourth-most in Stanley Cup Final history. Walman’s fine was the only one handed out.
The game was already 5-1 in favor of Florida when things were getting more aggressive on the ice. It reached a different level when Edmonton forward Trent Frederic started to pick on Bennett to the point where he cross-checked him down to the ice. Bennett retaliated with some punches as he got on top of Frederic.
PANTHERS’ MATTHEW TKACHUK’S TALKS GAME 3 CHAOS: ‘IF YOU HAVE TO TAKE A PUNCH IN THE FACE, TAKE IT’
That initial fight led every player on the ice to find a partner to duel with, and the referees simply let the brawl play itself out. The Oilers’ Darnell Nurse and the Panthers’ Jonah Gadjovich clutched each other’s sweaters and were throwing haymakers, while Florida’s A.J. Greer dueled with Edmonton’s Mattias Ekholm.
After the fights fizzled out, Nurse, Godjovich, Bennett, Frederic, Greer and Ekholm were all called for game misconducts and sent off the ice for the remainder of the game.
However, with nearly half of the third period still to play, the tension between these two teams vying for the Lord Stanley’s Cup did not stop. It mainly came from the Oilers, as Evander Kane was sent off the ice for the night after slashing Carter Verhaeghe in the face while he was down on the ice.
More penalties would be had as the clock kept ticking down, and at that point, both teams were just hoping no one would get hurt with much of this series left to play. Even at the final buzzer, Oilers star Corey Perry started jousting with multiple Panthers players, as fans threw debris onto the ice.
The Final continues on Thursday, with Florida, the reigning champs, hosting Game 4 and holding all the momentum. After Edmonton won Game 1 in overtime, Brad Marchand found the back of the net in double overtime in Game 2 to even up the series.
Fox News’ Scott Thompson contributed to this report.
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