EDMONTON, Alberta — Through 16 games this postseason, the Stars have faced a number of persisting problems, but goalie Jake Oettinger has not been one of them.
Giving up the first goal in 13 of 16 contests, not getting enough production from key goal scorers like Jason Robertson, Matt Duchene and Wyatt Johnston and an overall difficulty to put pucks in nets have been among the challenges Dallas has faced in all three rounds, including the first three games of its Western Conference finals series against the Edmonton Oilers, which the Stars now trail 2-1.
In the first two rounds, Oettinger put the team on his back at times, carrying them down the stretch of series to ultimately advance. Entering the conference finals, Oettinger was one of the best goaltenders in the playoffs, earning a league-high eight wins, with a .919 save percentage and 2.47 goals-against average.
He made a number of memorable saves, including one late in Game 6 of the Winnipeg series when Mason Appleton had a wide open net. That save by Oettinger gave the Stars a chance to clinch the series in overtime.
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In the first three games of the conference finals against Edmonton, Oettinger hasn’t quite made the same timely saves as he did in the first two rounds.
Nobody single-handedly blames him for the Stars being outscored 9-1 in the last two games, but in Game 3 Sunday, Oettinger wasn’t able to bail out his team with stunning, highlight-reel saves the way he’s done before.
Oettinger has a .842 save percentage and 4.02 goals-against average this series, numbers that are only better than the goalies for the Carolina Hurricanes, now on the brink of elimination. In Game 3, he allowed six goals on 24 shots, the most he’s given up all postseason.
“It’s all a part of the ups and downs of the playoffs,” Oettinger said. “That’s the great thing about playoff hockey is when you don’t play the game you want to, you get to do it again 48 hours later.”
It’s important to note many of those goals came on Grade-A scoring chances for Edmonton, like a 3-on-1 that Connor McDavid scored on effortlessly or a breakaway by Zach Hyman after a breakdown by Oettinger’s teammates in the neutral zone.
But after not having his best game, Oettinger has risen to the occasion in the past. He’s a playoff veteran at just 26 years old with more than 60 starts, and after losses, he’s an impressive 18-7 in his playoff career.
Those numbers are even better late in series, and with this series approaching its second half, Dallas could use him reaching another level.
“The last person I’m worried about in our group is Jake Oettinger,” Dallas head coach Pete DeBoer said. “We know how he’s going to play here going forward.”
His in-series improvements were on display last round, where Oettinger’s numbers from Games 1-3 to Games 4-6 improved from a solid .914 save percentage and 2.36 goals-against average to an impressive .944 save percentage and 1.68 goals-against average.
He’s facing a much taller task against an Edmonton offense that averages 3.93 goals per game this postseason. But with the Stars’ offensive struggles, it’s become clear they’re likely not going to win the 6-5 game.
The Stars are 0-6 this postseason when giving up four goals or more. They are just 2-7 when giving up three goals or more. When allowing two goals or fewer, the Stars are 7-0.
Of course, the offense still needs to find a way to score from there, and Edmonton’s goalie Stuart Skinner hasn’t made that easy, saving 93% of shots this series and allowing just two goals outside of a five-goal third period by the Stars in Game 1.
As much as they could use a player like Mikko Rantanen bailing them out and scoring his third hat trick of the playoffs, turning to their experienced goalie for another clutch performance, as he’s delivered time and time again in this playoff run, feels like the more attainable ask at this point.
“For me now, I can just pull on the past,” Oettinger said. “I’ve been down 2-1 on the road before and came out and played a great game and gotten wins. Just flush it and move on.”
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