The Edmonton Oilers were handed a 6-1 beating by the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, and emotions ran high, both on and off the ice. Forward Evander Kane didn’t hold back in his postgame comments, raising questions about how penalties were handed out during the game.
Evander Kane Points Finger at Officiating After Edmonton Oilers’ Game 3 Loss
Kane, who was hit with two penalties in the opening period and a misconduct late in the third, suggested the Panthers weren’t being called out for similar infractions. “They seem to get away with it more than we do,” he said. “It’s tough to find the line. They’re doing just as much stuff as we are.”
“They seem to get away with it more than we do. It’s tough to find the line. They’re doing just as much stuff as we are.”
Evander Kane on the officiating in Game 3 pic.twitter.com/eez3fPDEgh
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) June 10, 2025
Penalties played a central role in the game. There were 35 penalties across 140 minutes for both teams. Three of the Panthers’ goals came on the power play, widening the gap and shifting the momentum firmly in their favor.
By the third period, the game had unraveled. Misconducts were issued across both rosters, with eight players ejected after a series of scrums and retaliatory hits. Kane was one of them. Still, he downplayed the idea that Florida had successfully rattled the Oilers. “The game obviously got out of hand at the end there,” he noted. “That stuff is going to happen.”
Kane Frustrated by Penalty Imbalance in Stanley Cup Final
Kane’s frustration reflects a larger concern within the Oilers’ camp. While the Panthers were penalized more often in Games 1 and 2, the disparity in Game 3 caught the team’s attention. The shift in enforcement has led to renewed scrutiny of how the series is being officiated.
Head coach Kris Knoblauch added his voice to the conversation, pointing to an incident in Game 2 that went uncalled. A possible too-many-men violation by the Panthers led directly to the game-winning goal in double overtime.
Kane finished Game 3 with 16 penalty minutes, more than he had over the entire postseason until that point. One of those was a 10-minute misconduct for slashing Carter Verhaeghe in the third, when tempers had already flared and the result was no longer in doubt.
Evander Kane is done for the night with a 10 minute misconduct after this shot to Carter Verhaeghe pic.twitter.com/v8V2H6eIO6
— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) June 10, 2025
“You look at some of the calls and whatnot, [and] obviously some of them are frustrating,” Kane said again when asked about the situation. “There seems to be a little bit more attention on our group.”
By the final whistle, Game 3 had turned into more of a brawl than a hockey game. Among those sent off were Kane, Darnell Nurse, Mattias Ekholm from the Oilers, and Sam Bennett and A.J. Greer from Florida.
READ MORE: Matthew Tkachuk Gets Blunt on Game 3 Physicality vs. Oilers
Still, when looking at the series as a whole, the penalty numbers don’t clearly favor one side. The Panthers had more penalties in the first two games, but Game 3’s spike in calls and how and when they were made has placed the spotlight squarely on the officials.
The Panthers now lead the series 2-1 and will host Game 4 in Sunrise, Fla., on Thursday. For the Oilers, the challenge is twofold: get back in the win column and avoid getting pulled into another penalty-heavy battle.