The Dallas Stars‘ season came to a crashing halt after losing Game 5 to the Edmonton Oilers 6-3, and the series 4-1. This is now the third straight loss in the Western Conference Final for the Stars, and the second straight against the Oilers.
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It’s been a fun ride, for sure, but the way this series unfolded is disappointing on many different fronts, to say the least. There will be a full post-mortem on the season and the playoffs in the days to come, but for now, let’s talk about the night that was at American Airlines Center. I’m honored that you are taking the time to read this article, so I should warn you, there is little that you are about to read that hasn’t been said before. That’s just how this series has gone.
Stars Chase the Game From the Start… Again
For the 15th time this postseason, the Stars surrendered the first goal of the game, and again, it resulted in them never leading, as they lost their fourth straight game of the series. This time, it was an early penalty that they were unable to kill that put them on their heels, and by 8:07 of the first period, the Stars were down 3-0 and onto their backup goaltender.
Up until now, the Stars have been able to get away with these slow and brutal starts. No disrespect to their previous two opponents, but the Oilers have been here a few times before, and they know what it takes to get beyond this point. After losing the first two games to the Los Angeles Kings in the opening round, something snapped in this Edmonton team, and they have been relatively unbeatable since. Similar to the Florida Panthers, who the Oilers will be facing off against in the Stanley Cup Final, the Oilers are almost impossible to beat when they have the lead. Even though the Stars have been reminded of this fact three times already, apparently it hadn’t sunk in by the time the puck dropped on Thursday night.
The Stars have already struggled to score in this series. Bad penalties and mental lapses defensively made a big issue for the Stars even worse, and they just couldn’t recover.
One Guy Scores, Everyone Else Goes Missing
This has been a theme throughout the playoffs, starting in Game 7 of Round 1 against the Colorado Avalanche. The Mikko Rantanen story was heroic and magical, and it went right into Game 1 against the Winnipeg Jets. Six straight goals, points on a million straight goals, it was beautiful. What we didn’t realize at the time is that it would turn into a pandemic that would spread team-wide.
Later in Round 2, Mikael Granlund scored a hat trick on the way to a Dallas win. In Game 1 against the Oilers, Tyler Seguin scored two of the six goals. The fact that four other players scored is good, but considering three of those four players scored on the power play, and the other into an empty net, it kind of takes the good out of it.
When Jason Robertson scored the Stars’ first goal on Thursday night, that was his third straight goal. Roope Hintz scored his sixth goal of the postseason just over halfway through the second period to snap the streak. Well, the streak started again at the beginning of the third period. To sum up, Robertson scored four of the Stars’ final five goals of the series and the playoffs.
Listen, I’m willing to accept the fact that this might be an overreaction, but I really don’t think it is. This team is littered with skilled goal scorers who should be trusted to come through at big moments, especially at this time of the season. For the scoring to come from one guy at a time, except for on the power play, was bound to come back and bite the Stars, and that’s exactly what happened.
Pete DeBoer and Jake Oettinger
After Mattias Janmark scored the second goal of the game at 7:09 of the first period, Stars coach Pete DeBoer called a timeout, which is understandable. When the timeout was over, Jake Oettinger started skating back to the net when DeBoer called him back to the bench, and replaced him with Casey DeSmith.
At the time, it felt like DeBoer was trying to spark something in his group, which is not uncommon. Personally, I thought he would put Oettinger back in at the beginning of the second period, or sooner, but that never happened. The Janmark goal was a little weak, but by and large, the 2-0 deficit wasn’t on Oettinger, even if he allowed two goals on two shots. The Stars started their most important game of the season beyond flat, and Oettinger caught the bullets.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t the most interesting part. After the game, DeBoer was asked about the decision and referenced the point above and said that he was trying to spark his group. But then he continued, and added that Oettinger is 1-6 in his last seven games against the Oilers and that his record against them had something to do with keeping him out of the game.
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I don’t know if the Stars would have won if DeBoer had put Oettinger back in the net or never taken him out at all. But what I do know is that he is sticking around for almost a decade, and coaches are tossed away like bubble gum. There’s a chance that this could linger for a while. DeBoer’s concern is how to win the game, but it’s still something to think about moving forward.
I don’t think DeBoer should be fired, but this decision was not nothing. The fact that the Stars had no traction in this series may give him the benefit of the doubt, but Oettinger is a star goaltender, their franchise goaltender, and one of the biggest reasons the Stars were in the final four to begin with. Without him, they would have lost in the first round. Personally, I don’t like this decision, but it’s hard to know exactly what kind of fingerprint it left on the game.
Not a Great Way to Go Out
The Stars are a really good team, and it’s unfortunate that they flamed out this way. There’s going to be a lot of conversation about why it ended this way, but I think it goes without saying that this is incredibly disappointing. To lose to the Oilers in the Western Conference Final is nothing to be ashamed about. It’s how they lost that is so surprising. This is not meant to disregard what the Oilers did, but it really is shocking how this run came to an end for the Stars.
