Stars’ DeBoer on pulling Oettinger: ‘The status quo had not been working’
The Dallas Stars’ 2024-25 season came to an end Thursday night, losing 6-3 to the Edmonton Oilers and finding themselves eliminated after five games in the Western Conference Final.
In his postgame comments, Stars’ Head Coach Pete DeBoer didn’t hold back when asked about goaltender Jake Oettinger, who let in two goals on two shots, getting pulled in favour of Casey DeSmith after just 7:09 of gameplay.
Pete DeBoer explains his reasoning for pulling Jake Oettinger and what his message was during his first period timeout pic.twitter.com/E33uNm4cZ6
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) May 30, 2025
“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,” DeBoer said. “And we give up two goals on two shots in an elimination game. It was partly to spark our team and wake them up, but also knowing that the status quo had not been working. That’s a pretty big sample size.”
DeBoer: "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. … That's a pretty big sample size."
— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) May 30, 2025
Going into Game 5, Oettinger was 9-8 with an .908 save percentage (SV%) and 2.72 (GAA). This past season, the 26-year-old netminder was 36-18-4 with a .909 SV% and 2.59 GAA in 58 appearances.
In five NHL seasons, Oettinger has a 149-66-27 record with a .912 SV% and 2.52 GAA in 251 career games. He’s also played in 64 career playoff games, going 32-30 with a .913 SV% and 2.53 GAA.
The Stars have now been eliminated in three consecutive Western Conference Finals.