Stars put Jake Oettinger ‘in tough spots’ against Vegas’ offensive onslaught in Game 6

After Stars goalie Jake Oettinger was benched 7:10 into Game 3 for letting in three goals, the Stars weren’t fazed.

Head coach Pete DeBoer and Oettinger’s teammates stood by him postgame and had no concerns about his ability to respond in elimination games moving forward.

The 24-year-old goalie has been regarded as one of the league’s best when the season is on the line.

Ahead of Game 6 of the Western Conference finals Monday, Oettinger had faced five elimination games in his three-year career. He was 4-1 in those games with a .949 save percentage.

Three of those were this season. In Games 4 and 5 of the Vegas series — after his dismal performance in Game 3 — he was similarly strong in his response. He saved all but two shots in both games and recorded a .949 and .931 save percentage, respectively.

But in his third consecutive elimination game and fourth of the year, Oettinger couldn’t bail his team out again to force Game 7 and extend the season.

And when he allowed six goals, his teammates couldn’t bail him out on the other end either.

“Maybe one too many nights of us going to the well in an elimination game,” DeBoer said postgame. “Every time you go to an elimination game, it takes a toll physically, mentally. It’s hard to refill that tank over and over again.”

Oettinger had only given up six goals once before in his career — on March 12, 2022 against the New York Rangers. He had sacrificed five goals on eight occasions this season, most recently on March 21.

Oettinger faced the pressure from puck drop, as Vegas came out of the gates strong as it has in most games this series. He fielded four shots in just the first two minutes, and it only took 3:41 before the first got by him.

While Vegas scored on Oettinger six times, he wasn’t set up for success.

“We put him in some tough spots,” DeBoer said. “We can’t ask him to win that game by himself. He went to that place a lot for us through these playoffs and down the stretch — to get seeding, we had an injury to [Scott] Wedgewood. We asked an awful lot of him. I thought he had a hell of a postseason. He was our backbone all year.”

William Carrier’s goal, the first of the day, came on a wide open look after the puck got loose from a scramble below the goal line. William Karlsson’s was on a power play, though Oettinger did give up the rebound.

Keegan Kolesar and Jonathan Marchessault both beat Dallas skaters and scored on one-on-one breakaway opportunities. Karlsson was the trailer on another breakaway for his second.

Vegas had 80% of the high-danger scoring chances, outnumbering Dallas 12-to-3. On many, there wasn’t much Oettinger could do.

He finished the night 23-for-29 with a .793 save percentage. That is his first elimination goal in his career where he saved fewer than 90% of shots on him.

“That game isn’t on him,” DeBoer said. “I feel bad for our group. I feel worse that he ends his season on that because he doesn’t deserve that.”

Stars forward Tyler Seguin echoed that sentiment.

“He had an amazing year,” Seguin said. “I wish we could’ve done more to help him.”

Dallas’ coaches and players mentioned the silver lining of this season being their strong, youthful core with Oettinger at the center.

Per usual, all eyes will be on how he responds next after a crushing defeat. But rather than turning it around in 48 hours this time, he’ll have until October to show his resilience.

Jake Oettinger in elimination games

Twitter: @Lassimak

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