This attempt at a spark fizzled out, and instead, Stars coach Peter DeBoer is now under the microscope.
DeBoer shockingly benched starting goalie Jake Oettinger roughly seven minutes into a win-or-go-home Game 5 for Dallas on Thursday night after the Oilers scored two quick goals.
The controversial move did not provide the desired result — Jeff Skinner netted a goal less than a minute later against backup Casey DeSmith — and the Stars were ousted from the Western Conference Final in a 6-3 defeat.
DeSmith did not galvanize the team in his second appearance of this postseason, and Dallas has now lost in three straight conference finals under DeBoer, including back-to-back years against Edmonton.
“I didn’t take that lightly and I didn’t blame it all on Jake,’’ DeBoer said.
“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. So it was partly to spark our team and partly knowing that the status quo had not been working. That’s a pretty big sample size.”
Oettinger did not play well entering Game 5 and did little to inspire confidence by yielding two early goals, but pulling your starting goalie less than halfway into a potential elimination game is still a jarring move.
Edmonton scored 2:31 and 7:09 into the game to grab a 2-0 edge, although both goals did not fall strictly on his shoulders due to the scores coming on a power play and a breakaway.
The goalie stopped just 93 of 109 shots (.853) in the series after posting a save percentage of .909 during the regular season and playing well in series wins over the Avalanche and Jets.
Oettinger stopped 90.1 percent of shots in last year’s six-game series loss to Edmonton.
“It’s unacceptable for us to hang him out like that,” Stars wing Jason Robertson said regarding Oettinger, per The Athletic. “The whole playoffs, he’s been our guy, the whole season. Just unacceptable from us.”
Make it all the more shocking is that DeBoer went with a cold goalie in DeSmith, who had last played more than a month ago on April 26 to close out a 4-0 loss to Colorado in Game 4 of that first-round series.
DeSmith yielded three goals on 20 shots, the latter two coming after Dallas had twice cut Edmonton’s lead to one.
ESPN announcer Sean McDonagh flatly said on the broadcast he disagreed with the maneuver, while analyst Ray Ferraro said he agreed with the move.
“He is your guy, but you can’t stand here and do the same thing,” Ferraro said. “You need to jolt your team. Somehow, you have to jolt them. You can only call a timeout, you can only change the line so often.”
Some labeled the move as one of panic and desperation, and that it backfired raises questions about DeBoer’s future in Dallas.
While the team has reached the conference finals in all three of his seasons, it’s fair to wonder if he’s the right man to get the team to the Stanley Cup Final.
DeBoer is now 2-6 in the conference finals, including six straight losses in the round.
“I think it’s possible to be two things at the same time. I’m really proud of the resiliency of our group through the first two rounds … and I’m also disappointed that we didn’t find another level, another gear here, another way,” DeBoer said. “I think our group needs to go, coaches, players, and reflect in the summer what we can do better when we get to this point against the best teams.
“But there’s no doubt the two best teams are playing for the Cup.”