2 days ago
Oilers star slammed for 'clown' move as Stanley Cup Finals descend into all-out brawl in Panthers' Game 3 win
Yes, the Edmonton Oilers were blown out 6-1 by the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals. And yes, they now trail the defending champions 2-1 in the best-of-seven series after taking 21 penalties for 85 minutes in Sunrise on Monday night.
But before the blowout in South Florida descended into an all-out brawl, with officials struggling to contain a flurry of third-period skirmishes, Oilers defenseman Jake Walman managed to get some satisfaction.
He sprayed the Panthers' bench with his water bottle.
Slammed online as a 'clown' move, Walman's action came in the second period and the Panthers holding a 4-1 lead. The Toronto-born veteran did manage squirt the water over a pair of plexiglass dividers, bench reporter Brian Boucher, and onto a few Panthers players, but only managed some minor irritation.
'I obviously did that for a reason,' Walman said afterwards without giving a specific reason. 'It's just gamesmanship, I guess.'
Fans disagreed.
Walman was spraying water at the Panthers bench 👀
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) June 10, 2025
Jake Walman squirts his water bottle over TNT's Brian Boucher and onto the Panthers' bench
Panthers players are seen reacting to the droplets of water falling from the opposite bench
'Poor sportsmanship,' one complained online afterward.
'Dudes (sic) a toddler,' another added.
One fan offered a reason for Walman's behavior: 'Well when you suck at hockey and can't score to save your life this is the next best thing.'
A Stars supporter put it more concisely, although they could still be made about Edmonton's Western Conference Finals win over Dallas.
'Classless players, organization and fans,' wrote the Stars fan.
Many others suggested the incident was a bad omen for Oilers players who now look poised to drop a second consecutive Stanley Cup Final to the Panthers.
'We didn´t play very well,' said Evander Kane, who was whistled for two of his three minor penalties in a miserable first period and got a misconduct late. 'That´s evident. We have nobody to blame but ourselves. We can definitely be a lot better.'
Stuart Skinner got pulled after allowing five goals on 23 shots, but captain Connor McDavid acknowledged, 'I don´t know how much we´re going to put on Stu.' The play in front of him was disjointed and disconnected, at 5 on 5, on the power play and on the penalty kill.
If not for Skinner, the score could have gotten out of hand much earlier because the Western Conference champions had their worst showing since perhaps the first couple of games of the playoffs.
'It was a weird game,' McDavid said. 'Obviously it wasn´t our best - not our best at all. I don´t think our best has shown up all series long. But it´s coming. We´ll shift the focus to finding a way to get a win in Game 4.'
Even with an extra day off before Game 4 on Thursday night, coach Kris Knoblauch scheduled practice for his team Tuesday afternoon. There is much to discuss and work on.
'Collectively, goaltender, defense, all our forwards, we all have to be better,' Knoblauch said. 'They played a heck of a game, and we´re going to have to raise ours.'
Being more disciplined is a good place to start.
After giving up a goal to Brad Marchand 56 seconds in, Edmonton took four minor penalties in the first period. The dam eventually broke on a power-play goal that made it too tough a deficit to overcome.
'Almost half the period you´re killing, so it´s not a good way to get into your game,' McDavid said. 'Never got to our game.'
The Oilers' play was almost indistinguishable from how they've looked for much of this run, getting balanced scoring and star performances from McDavid and Draisaitl. Ill-timed defensive breakdowns proved costly, and guys lost their cool - like Walman squirting water at Panthers players on their bench from his place on the visiting side.
By the time brawls ensued in the third period, the game was out of hand. Players downplayed the margin of defeat, quick to try to spin their thoughts forward to what they need to do to tie the final.
'We know what we´re going to be up against,' Skinner said. 'It doesn´t change how we´re going to respond again. We´ve got two days to come back and I think there´s some things that we´re going to have to change.'
That could mean lineup changes and certainly some major adjustments by Knoblauch and his staff. The Oilers also need to be better prepared to play in Game 4, perhaps channeling the pain from back-to-back losses.
'Losing in the playoffs, whether it´s in round 1 Game 1 or the Stanley Cup Final, it´s never a good feeling, but we´ve been here before,' Kane said. 'We´ve been down in series before, and we´ve had tough losses. It will sting right now and we´ll flush it tomorrow and get ready for Thursday.'
