The Stars wouldn't be able to handle the Florida Panthers

I was surprised I turned on the Stanley Cup Finals the other night. After the Dallas Stars lost to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals, I felt sad for an entire week. It felt like this year's Stars playoff team had everything to win the Stanley Cup. After watching 60 minutes of playoff hockey on Saturday night, I've concluded that the Stars would have struggled against the Florida Panthers in a seven-game series based on how they played against Edmonton.

The Panthers have everything going for them right now. Their goaltender is a brick wall that was able to stop one of the best offenses in the league. Their speed and aggressiveness are a perfect recipe for a Stanley Cup team. They look 20 times better than the team that took the ice in game one against the Vegas Golden Knights last season. With the injuries that the Stars were going through, they would have been eliminated in five or six games.

While Jake Oettinger performed better than he did last year in the playoffs, he would have been outclassed by Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky. He is a veteran goaltender who has been in the postseason multiple times and has learned to remain calm under pressure. Jake Oettinger is only 25 and has won half of the games Bobrovsky has won in the postseason. While there would be a goalie duel in the Stanley Cup Finals between both teams, experience under pressure would give the advantage to Florida.

Another thing that the Panthers would have over the Stars is aggressiveness. Florida is a very physical team, and some of the hits they've given this postseason have been gnarly. Dallas would lose this matchup to the Panthers as well. Outside of Mason Marchment, Craig Smith, and a few others, the Stars have no one who can hit their opponents hard. Lian Bichsel will add some physicality next season, but I don't think he would have played his first game in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Lastly, the Stars wouldn't have the speed to compete with the Panthers. While the Stars have some players with speed, they aren't as fast as the Panthers. Look at the clip below and see how fast four of their skaters entered the Oilers' zone and scored. They skated in fast and put the puck in the back of the net. With all due respect to Ryan Suter and Joe Pavelski, they would have been left in the dust. The Stars wouldn't stop their fast-paced entry into the zone for seven games. In conclusion, the Stars wouldn't be able to handle this agressive Panthers team in the Stanley Cup Finals. As the famous quote says, " The third time is a charm."

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