After an ugly end to the postseason last year, Jake Oettinger struggled out of the gate to start the 2026 playoffs on Saturday.
The Dallas Stars netminder allowed five goals on 28 shots in a 6-1 blowout loss to the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of their first-round series. Oettinger’s struggles in the 2025 playoffs were well-documented with then-head coach Peter DeBoer pulling the netminder early in their elimination loss the to Edmonton Oilers in Game 5 the Western Conference Final.
“Once I leave the rink, I never think about it again,” Oettinger said of his response to losing Game 1 against the Wild. “Even if we had won Game 1, it would’ve been the same process.”
Jake Oettinger on his response after Game 1: “Once I leave the rink, I never think about it again. Even if we had won Game 1, it would’ve been the same process.”
— Lia Assimakopoulos (@Lassimak) April 20, 2026
Oettinger posted a 35-12-6 record in the regular season with a .899 save percentage and a 2.59 goals-against average. He finished the playoffs last year with a 9-8 record with a .905 save percentage, struggling against the Oilers, allowing 14 goals in the first four games of the series. He was pulled just over seven minutes into Game 5 after allowing two goals on two shots in the eventual 6-3 loss.
DeBoer was fired a week after the playoff elimination, with Stars general manager Jim Nill admitting “the events that took place (with Oettinger), that’s a component of it.”
Gulutzan said after Game 1 he did not consider pulling Oettinger as he didn’t blame on the goals on him. He did, however, leave the door open on Sunday to considering a goalie change at some point to Casey DeSmith.
“It would have to be something,” Gulutzan said of making a change. “We look at game to game, so I’m not going to fish ahead to see what happens, but everything is on the table come playoff time it doesn’t matter if it’s personnel or what it is. You’re just trying to win a game. We don’t want to mix and match too much. We lost Game 1. We’ve got to bounce back.
“Like I keep saying, there weren’t many guys at the top of their game yesterday. I fully expect them to be better tomorrow.”
The Stars, who have reached the Western final in each of the past three years, finished second in Central Division in their first season under Gulutzan, setting up their tough matchup with the Wild. Dallas finished third overall in the NHL standings, while the Wild finished seventh in the league and third in the Western Conference.
