Peter DeBoer stuck the knife in his goalie's back. And then, the Dallas Stars head coach twisted it around for good measure.
How else to describe DeBoer's decision to not only yank Jake Oettinger seven minutes into a must-win game against the Edmonton Oilers — but then blame his goalie for once again coming up short in the Western Conference final.
Chances are this one is going to haunt DeBoer all summer long. And it could lead to him losing his job.
"Anytime you pull a goalie, the reasoning's always to try and spark your group," DeBoer said following a 6-3 loss to the Oilers in Game 5 on Thursday. "So that was the No. 1 reason.
"We had talked endlessly in this series about trying to play with the lead. And obviously, we were in a 2-0 hole right away. I didn't take that lightly and 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 gave up two shots on two goals in an elimination game.
"So it was partly to spark our team and wake them up. And it was partly knowing that status quo had not been working. That's a pretty big sample size."
Jake Oettinger is gonna win so many Stanley Cups for the Avalanche pic.twitter.com/JgTzh2EwAG
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) May 30, 2025
It's one thing to pull your goalie to try to spark your team. It's another to throw him under the bus when the move doesn't work.
And let's make one thing clear: this was not the right decision. Not by a long shot.
For one, Oettinger wasn't at fault for either of the goals he allowed. The first goal was scored on the power play, with Edmonton's Corey Perry connecting on a pass from Connor McDavid in front of the net. The second goal was scored on a breakaway.
Nobody was blaming Oettinger for allowing those goals. Certainly no one was thinking he would be pulled after facing just two shots. That included Oettinger, who started to skate back to his crease after DeBoer called a time out, only to have DeBoer call him back to the bench so that he could be replaced with backup goalie Casey DeSmith.
Not that DeSmith was any better.
Less than a minute after DeSmith came into the game, Edmonton scored again to take a 3-0 lead. DeSmith finished the game having allowed three goals on 20 shots. Again, the way the Oilers have been playing, it would not have mattered who was in net.
And yet, it does matter who was in net for the Stars.
Say what you want about Oettinger's play against the Oilers in the past two conference finals — he allowed 16 goals in six games against Edmonton last year and another 16 goals in five games this year — he is the Stars' No. 1 goalie. And after signing an eight-year contract extension worth $66-million in October, he will remain the Stars' No. 1 goalie for the foreseeable future.
The same cannot be said of DeBoer, whose post-game comments may have hinted that he knows he has coached his last game in Dallas.
Stars Suffer Nightmare Ending To Playoff Run With Questionable Game 5 Decision There are many nightmare scenarios in which things could go wrong for a team during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. A star player gets injured, a call does not go their way, but rarely is a team's star player taken out of the game in an act of desperation. Unfortunately, that was the case for the Dallas Stars in their do-or-die Game 5 on Thursday night. Pete DeBoer would make a move that would leave some fans scratching their heads, and others fuming.
Since being hired by the Stars, DeBoer has brought the team to the conference final in each of the past three years. After three straight losses, it might be time for someone else to try and get Dallas over the hump.
After all, this wasn't the first time DeBoer has made a controversial decision regarding a star goalie. Back in 2021, when he was coaching the Vegas Golden Knights, DeBoer decided to sit Vezina Trophy winner Marc-Andre Fleury in favor of Robin Lehner en route to the conference final. It was a decision that didn't sit well with Fleury, who was dealt to Chicago the following summer, or with Fleury's agent, who tweeted out a picture of his client with a sword sticking through his back, emblazoned with DeBoer's name on the blade.
quick, someone photoshop Oettinger into this https://t.co/04NkE1x8t1pic.twitter.com/RsaLfCuuXJ
— Shayna (@shaynagoldman_) May 30, 2025
We'll have to see what the fallout looks like after this decision. But already, fans and teammates were quick to come to Oettinger's defense.
Oettinger may have had a rough series against the Oilers, but you could say the same thing about nearly everyone on the Stars' roster. Mikko Rantenen, who led the Stars in scoring with nine goals in the first two rounds, had no goals and three assists in the conference final. Wyatt Johnston, Roope Hintz, Matt Duchene, Mason Marchmen and Jamie Benn combined for just two goals.
“We got to step up,” Dallas winger Jason Robertson, who had two goals in Game 5, told reporters. “It’s unacceptable for us to hang him out like that.
“I mean, all playoffs he’s been our guy, all season. It’s just unacceptable from us.”
