Stars head coach Peter DeBoer explained his controversial choice Thursday to pull starter Jake Oettinger during Dallas' season-ending loss to the Edmonton Oilers in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final.
"Any time you pull a goalie, the reasoning's always to try and spark your group," he said after the Stars' 6-3 defeat, per Sportsnet. "So that was the No. 1 reason. We had talked endlessly in this series about trying to play with the lead. Obviously we're in a 2-0 hole right away.
"I didn't take that lightly and I didn't blame it all on Jake, but the reality is, if you go back to last year's playoffs, he's lost six of seven games to Edmonton. And we give up two (goals) on two (shots) in an elimination game. It was partly to spark our team and wake them up, and partly knowing that (the) status quo had not been working. That's a pretty big sample size."
Oettinger was given the hook just seven minutes into the game after Corey Perry and Mattias Janmark beat him on Edmonton's first two shots of the contest. The former was a quick shot in front on the power play, while the latter came off a breakaway following a messy line change by the Stars.
Stars winger Jason Robertson expressed frustration with how he and his teammates played in front of Oettinger.
"We gotta step up," he said, per The Athletic's Mark Lazerus. "It's unacceptable for us to hang him out like that. Whole playoffs he's been our guy, the whole season. Just unacceptable from us."
Backup Casey DeSmith entered the game in relief and allowed three goals on 20 shots.
Oettinger was outstanding during the first two rounds against the Colorado Avalanche and Winnipeg Jets, recording a .919 save percentage and 2.47 goals against average.
It was a different story in the Western Conference Final. He owned an .853 clip and 3.93 goals against average versus Edmonton as Dallas lost four straight contests after winning Game 1.
The Stars mustered just four shots on goal in the third period of the last three games against the Oilers and went the last 16 minutes in Game 5 without a shot on goal.
Last spring, Oettinger recorded a .907 save percentage and 2.56 goals against average in six games against the Oilers. However, he dropped the last three games of that series with an .859 save percentage over that stretch.
DeBoer has now been defeated in the conference finals six times in the last seven years. He lost with the San Jose Sharks in 2019, the Vegas Golden Knights in 2020 and 2021, and the Stars in the last three seasons.
Oettinger is set to enter the first season of an eight-year extension with an $8.25-million cap hit. He signed the pact in October.
