Ryan Whitney points finger at Oilers' Evander Kane after penalty-filled Game 3 loss to Panthers in Stanley Cup Finals - 'Don't blame refs'

The Florida Panthers decimated the Edmonton Oilers in Game 3, and the referees came to the center of the discussion. Their performance drew some ire from Oilers fans despite the five-goal differential.

Former hockey player Ryan Whitney discussed the situation on "Spittin' Chiclets" on Tuesday:

"The lack of discipline to start that game, and I know that the penalties were were evened up technically, right? Oilers fans, I don't want to hear we lost because of the refs. Get out of here with this. We're not doing this we're in the middle of the Final."

Whitney did admit that he didn't like the refereeing, saying it was a "bit of a rough show" from the opening puck drop, but that's not why Edmonton lost the game.

"Don't blame the refs. ... We lost that game because their special teams were better. They were better five-on-five. Their goalie was way better. The refs weren't great. They didn't lose us the game."

He then took issue specifically with Evander Kane, saying he doesn't know what was going through the winger's head:

"You cannot when you take penalties in the offensive zone, one of them on the power play, when you're 200 feet from your own goal. You cannot take stick penalties."

Kane was ejected from Game 3. Whitney noted that those penalties give momentum to the opposing team, which is a death sentence with the Panthers. He also added that he appreciated the fight back at the end.

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Oilers' Evander Kane complains about refs in blowout loss

Evander Kane felt that he seemed to have the full attention of the referees in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final, and that the refs paid much more attention to Edmonton than Florida.

Evander Kane called out the referees (Imagn)

He said after the game, via CBS Sports:

"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. There seems to be a little bit more attention on our group."

In the contest, the Oilers committed 21 penalties that lasted a total of 85 minutes in the box. Conversely, the Panthers committed 14 penalties and spent 55 minutes in the box.