Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer addressed his contentious choice to remove goaltender Jake Oettinger early in Game 5, offering a less than enthusiastic assessment of Oettinger following the team`s playoff elimination loss.
After the game, DeBoer stated, “I didn`t put all the blame on Jake, but the truth is, looking back at last year`s playoffs, he`s dropped six out of seven games against Edmonton. And in a must-win game, we let in two goals on just two shots.”
He added that the move was intended partly “to ignite our team and get them going,” and partly because he recognized that “doing things the same way hadn`t been effective, and that`s based on a substantial amount of data.”
This critical evaluation explains why DeBoer opted to replace Oettinger with backup Casey DeSmith just over seven minutes into Thursday night`s decisive match against the Edmonton Oilers, after Oettinger conceded two quick goals on the first two shots faced.
