Less than nine minutes into the Dallas Stars` season-ending 6-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night, goaltender Jake Oettinger was removed from the game and took a seat on the bench. Head coach Pete DeBoer`s decision to pull his starting netminder so early in a critical elimination game immediately raised questions, and he addressed the reasoning behind the controversial move after the game.
The Stars struggled significantly throughout the playoffs when playing with a lead, frequently falling behind first in 15 of their 18 games. Game 5 was a particularly poor start, with the Oilers scoring on their first two shots of the night.
While Oettinger wasn`t entirely to blame for either of the initial goals, DeBoer opted to replace his primary goalie with backup Casey DeSmith regardless. In his postgame comments, DeBoer stated that his main intention was to try and energize his team. However, he also acknowledged being influenced by Oettinger`s recent playoff history against the Oilers.
“Anytime you pull a goalie, the reasoning is always to try and spark your group, so that was the No. 1 reason,” DeBoer explained. “We had talked endlessly in this series about trying to play with the lead. Obviously, we were in a 2-0 hole right away. You know, 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. We gave up two shots and two goals in an elimination game.
“It was partly to spark our team and wake them up, and partly knowing the status quo had not been working, and it was a pretty big sample size.”
Shortly after entering the game, DeSmith allowed a third goal when a relatively soft shot from Jeff Skinner trickled through his pads, making the score 3-0. The other two goals DeSmith conceded – a spectacular move by Connor McDavid and an unlucky bounce off Esa Lindell`s skate on an intended pass from Evander Kane – were less likely his fault.
Despite DeBoer`s rationale, many Stars fans are left wondering what might have transpired had Oettinger remained in net. Could he have stopped Skinner`s shot? Would he have made a crucial save against McDavid? Might he have reacted quicker to the deflected puck?
DeBoer cited a seven-game sample size from previous playoffs as part of his justification for the benching. However, critics point to a much larger sample: Oettinger has played 174 games over the past three seasons. In that period, his 48.1 goals saved above average rank sixth across the entire NHL, according to Natural Stat Trick statistics.
Regardless of his specific postseason record against Edmonton, Oettinger is considered the franchise cornerstone the Stars rely on to win critical games. They are paying him like a top-tier goaltender, and many argue he should have been given the opportunity to recover from a shaky start.
Even factoring in Thursday night`s difficult outing, Oettinger maintained a positive 3.76 goals saved above average throughout this postseason. Without his performance, the Stars likely wouldn`t have advanced this far. Only four teams in the league averaged fewer than Dallas`s 2.5 goals per game this season, and three of those four were eliminated in the first round in just five games.
The Stars needed a significant boost long before Game 5, but it never materialized consistently. Pulling Oettinger, unless he was suddenly going to contribute offensively by scoring goals, was arguably not the answer. DeBoer, it seems, should have trusted his number one goalie to battle through. Instead, the team`s season ended with Oettinger watching from the sidelines.
