After making the controversial decision to pull Jake Oettinger early in Game 5, Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer didn’t exactly give a glowing endorsement of his netminder after the dust settled on their season-ending loss.
“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 gave up two goals on two shots in an elimination game,” DeBoer said post-game.
“It was partly to spark our team and wake them up. And partly knowing that status quo had not been working, and that’s a pretty big sample size.”
It’s that harsh assessment that led to DeBoer calling on backup Casey DeSmith just over seven minutes into Thursday’s contest after Oettinger allowed two goals on two shots against the Edmonton Oilers.
Edmonton was able to beat Oettinger on two Grade-A scoring chances in the early going of the elimination game. First, Corey Perry was left alone in front of the Dallas net, deflecting home a pass from Connor McDavid to break the ice.
Shortly after, Mattias Janmark sprang free on a breakaway, taking advantage of a bad Stars line change to go in alone on Oettinger and give the Oilers a 2-0 lead. Janmark’s goal led to a Pete DeBoer timeout, where the Dallas coach seemingly ripped into his team for their slow start before making the decision to swap goalies.
“It’s unacceptable for us to hang him out like that,” Stars forward Jason Robertson said of how the team played in front of Oettinger. “The whole playoffs, he’s been our guy, whole season. It’s just unacceptable from us.”
This Western Conference Final marked the second straight year that Oettinger has looked mortal against the high-powered Oilers offence. Entering Thursday, the 26-year-old had a .869 save percentage and had allowed 14 goals in the first four games of the series — numbers that will only go down after his two shots faced in Game 5.
Last season, Oettinger allowed 16 goals in Dallas’s six-game defeat against Edmonton and posted a .901 save percentage.
Both series have left a stain on what is otherwise a sterling post-season resume for the young goalie. In 64 career playoff games before Thursday’s disappointing exit, Oettinger had a .913 save percentage and 2.53 goals-against average.
In relief of Oettinger, DeSmith stopped 17 of the 20 shots he faced — his first game action since Game 4 of the first round against the Colorado Avalanche.
Less than a minute after he entered the game, Jeff Skinner scored his first career playoff goal to put the Oilers up 3-0 and well on their way to a second straight trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
