The Dallas Stars opened training camp Thursday with goaltender Jake Oettinger reflecting on last season’s crushing end in the Western Conference Final.
Oettinger was pulled just 7:09 into Game 5 against Edmonton after allowing two goals on two shots. The Stars lost 6-3 and were eliminated from the playoffs.
“In the long run, I feel like I’m gonna look back on it as something that helped me,” Oettinger said. “And when we do win it all, it’s going to be, you know, look back and laugh and feel like that was something I had to go through in order to get to that.”
The decision to pull Oettinger became one of the most discussed moves of the playoffs. Then-coach Pete DeBoer cited Oettinger’s struggles against Edmonton as the reason for the switch.
DeBoer pointed out after the game that Oettinger had lost six of his previous seven playoff games against the Oilers. He hoped a goalie change would spark the team in an elimination game.
It didn’t work. Eight days later, the Stars fired DeBoer.
The move raised questions about how it affected the relationship between coach and goaltender. Oettinger’s eight-year, $66 million contract extension kicks in this season.
“A little more blown out of proportion than it actually was,” Oettinger said Thursday. “I think stuff happens, emotions run high and people say and do things on a whim that maybe they look back and regret.”
DeBoer spoke publicly for the first time since his firing in comments to NHL.com this week. He said he had no regrets about pulling Oettinger but wished he’d handled the postgame explanation differently.
“Listen, we were all to blame for coming up short again, and it starts with me,” DeBoer said. “It was on me, it was on all the coaches, it was on all the players, it was on the organization as a whole.”
DeBoer said his reference to Oettinger’s record against Edmonton should have made it clearer that those losses were on everyone, not just the goaltender.
When asked about DeBoer’s comments Thursday, Oettinger kept it simple.
“I think he hit the nail on the head with what he said, so let’s leave it at that.”
Four Straight Playoff Runs
The Stars have reached the playoffs four consecutive seasons with Oettinger as their primary goaltender. They’ve lost in the conference final three straight times, with Edmonton eliminating them the past two years.
Oettinger was the 26th overall pick in Dallas’s impressive 2017 draft class. The Stars selected defenseman Miro Heiskanen third overall and forward Jason Robertson 39th overall that year.
In 251 regular-season games over five NHL seasons, the 26-year-old has compiled a 149-66-27 record with a .912 save percentage and 2.52 goals-against average.
His playoff numbers are nearly identical: 32-30 record with a .912 save percentage and 2.56 GAA in 65 games.
Mikko Rantanen, acquired at the trade deadline last March, praised his new teammate’s abilities.
“He’s, I think, a top-three goalie in the league for sure,” said Rantanen, who like Oettinger is starting an eight-year contract extension. “That’s a big advantage to have a goalie who you can trust.”
The Stars begin this season with a new coach and the same championship expectations that have defined their recent playoff runs.
