Stars' Pete DeBoer hangs Jake Oettinger out to dry after ugly Game 5
It's no secret that Jake Oettinger was not at his best in the Western Conference Final. He wasn't at his best in 2024 when the Edmonton Oilers beat the Dallas Stars in six games, and he wasn't even close to his best when Edmonton finished Dallas off in five games in the 2025 WCF.
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Oettinger went 1-3 in the first four games of the series, sporting a brutal 3.55 goals-against average and .869 save percentage. And he didn't last eight minutes in Game 5, allowing two goals on two shots before being unceremoniously pulled by head coach Pete DeBoer.
And the Stars' coach didn't pull any punches when speaking to reporters after a third consecutive series defeat in the West Final.
'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 explained. '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.'
Certainly harsh words from DeBoer, and you don't often see a coach calling out his starting goaltender like this. Yes, Oettinger deserves some blame, but the Stars had only scored two goals in three games heading into the elimination contest, so there's enough blame to go around.
DeBoer added: 'Anytime you pull a goalie, the reasoning is always to try and spark your group, so that was the No. 1 reason. We had talked endlessly in this series about trying to play with a lead. And obviously we're in a 2-0 hole right away. And you know what, I didn't take that lightly.'
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It was a nightmare start for the Stars, who were chasing the game all night long and were never able to get Game 5 back on even footing. And although the Oilers deserve a lot of credit, there were multiple forwards who disappeared in the series.
Stars had a ton of passengers in West Final
Although DeBoer threw Oettinger under the bus, key forwards Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen refused to do the same.
'We got to step up,' said Robertson, who scored two goals in Game 5, per NHL.com's Shawn P. Roarke. 'It's unacceptable for us to hang him out like that. I mean, all playoffs he's been our guy, all season. It's just unacceptable from us.'
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'We were not ready,' echoed Rantanen. 'We were not helping Jake at all on the first two goals. That's on us and not on Jake.'
Rantanen didn't score a goal in the series, while Wyatt Johnston and Matt Duchene combined to be a ghastly minus-10. Captain Jamie Benn didn't record a single point, while Mason Marchment had one assist. Robertson was the only player who finished at a point-per-game, while Tyler Seguin and Mikael Granlund managed three points each.
Overall, it wasn't even close to good enough from one of the NHL's best offensive units. It'll now be another long offseason after back-to-back-to-back Western Conference Final defeats.
The Stars will again look to get over the hump in 2025-26, but first, they'll have to watch as the team that's beaten them two years running gets another crack at a Stanley Cup.
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