Head coach Pete DeBoer knew what his Dallas Stars squad needed to do in Game 5 of the 2025 Western Conference Finals. They needed to find a way to keep the Edmonton Oilers off the score sheet, give goaltender Jake Oettinger some goal support, and most crucially, win the next three games.
After dominating Game 1, the Stars were down 3-1 to the Oilers. Now, they faced elimination and needed results to go their way. Unfortunately, Game 5 is where things unraveled. DeBoer pulled Oettinger seven minutes into the game, and Edmonton won the contest by a score of 6-3.
After the game, DeBoer came close to throwing Oettinger under the bus. His comments took the hockey world by storm and likely played a major role in the Stars’ decision to fire him in early June. It was an ugly end to a stint that saw Dallas make the West Final in each of DeBoer’s three years in charge.
Now, the former Stars bench boss is speaking out about the incident. In an exclusive interview with NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger, DeBoer said he should have handled that press conference a lot differently.
“When all the questions at the postgame press conference were about Jake, I should have redirected the topic to reflect that this wasn’t just about him, this was about all of us. We — and I stress the word ‘we’ — did not get the job done,” DeBoer said.
“We were on a run in which we’d lost six of our past seven games against Edmonton in the third round dating back to 2024. In one of my answers, I said he’d lost six of seven to them. But it wasn’t just him. It was all of us. That’s not on just one guy. I should have made that clearer.”
What Pete DeBoer Said About Jake Oettinger
Matthew Stockman/Getty ImagesFormer Dallas Stars head coach Pete DeBoer is addressing his comments about goalie Jake Oettinger for the first time.
DeBoer, as every NHL coach does, spoke with the media after the Game 5 loss and subsequent elimination. He had rather pointed words for his goaltender, mentioning Oettinger’s track record against Edmonton in the playoffs.
“We had talked endlessly in this series about trying to play with a lead, and obviously we were in a 2-0 hole right away,” DeBoer said. “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,” the former Stars coach said at the time, via The Athletic.
“And we give up two goals on two shots in an elimination game. So it was partly to spark our team and wake them up. And partly knowing that status quo had not been working, and that’s a pretty big sample size.”
It was a stunning quote given that Oettinger had played quite well in the previous rounds. He finished the 2025 playoffs with a .905 save percentage and 9.14 Goals Saved Above Expected, according to Evolving Hockey. These comments did not sit well with fans. And both sided needed a fresh start.
Stars’ Oettinger Responds To DeBoer’s Comments
The NHL recently held its Player Media Tour, in which many of the league’s brightest stars participated. Oettinger spoke during this tour. NHL.com informed the Stars goaltender of DeBoer’s comment. And he provided a brief response.
“I mean, I think I feel like he hit the nail on the head,” Oettinger told Zeisberger. “I agree with what his reflection was. I’m glad he said what he said.”
Oettinger and the Stars certainly believe they can win the Stanley Cup. They are moving on from last year’s defeat and controversy, and preparing for another deep run. Dallas begins its season on October 9th on the road against the Winnipeg Jets.
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