Playoff run: Panthers neutralize opposing stars

In general, everyone agrees that the Florida Panthers have in no way stolen their place in the Stanley Cup Final.

Since the start of the playoffs, Paul Maurice’s team has been nothing short of impressive, game after game.

The Florida team has excelled in virtually every position since the start of the spring tournament.

The Panthers have excellent forwards, solid support forwards, excellent defensemen and, of course, an in-form goaltender.

In short, everything is going well for the Panthers, as we can see right now, when they are just one win away from winning the first Stanley Cup in their history.

Starting tonight, the Panthers can sweep the Oilers and end the 2023-2024 NHL season.

And if that happens, it will be entirely deserved.

Why do I say that?

Because since the start of the playoffs, the Panthers have completely neutralized their opponents’ stars.

Indeed, at five against five, the star players of the four teams the Panthers have faced have scored just four goals since the start of the playoffs.

Worst of all, those four goals were scored in the first round by Steven Stamkos and Brayden Point, who I also count as two star players.

Otherwise, all the other stars failed to score a single five-on-five goal.

We’re talking about Nikita Kucherov (top scorer in the regular season), David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad and now Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

It’s crazy that none of these players stood out and made a difference for their team against the Panthers.

And now you’re going to tell me that I’m excluding an important part of the playoffs, which is the power play, but even if you add in the power play, all these players accumulate only three goals.

Point and Stamkos alone have three more goals if you add the power play.

In short, the Panthers have completely neutralized their opponents’ star players since the start of the playoffs.

This is one of the main reasons why Florida made it all the way to the finals, and are now just one win away from the Stanley Cup.

The Panthers’ defense, led by the excellent and underrated Gustav Forsling, is doing an excellent job, and is also very well helped by Sergei Bobrovsky, who is on track for the best Stanley Cup final by a goaltender in NHL history.

Overtime

– The Panthers have come a long way.

– Lapierre stands out.

– A prospect to keep an eye on.

– Very special indeed.