Jake Oettinger was one of the best netminders in the NHL this season, but that wasn't the case in the Western Conference Finals against the Edmonton Oilers. The Dallas Stars goalie was lit up throughout the series and head coach Pete DeBoer had seen enough in Game 5, benching Oettinger in the first period of the 6-3 loss that ended the Stars' season.

DeBoer has faced serious criticism for that decision, but he made it clear on Saturday that while he hasn't spoken to Oettinger since then, he thinks the world of the shotstopper.

Via Lia Assimakopoulos:

“Pete DeBoer said no one is a bigger fan of Jake Oettinger than he is. He said he and Oettinger still haven’t had a chance to talk since Game 5.”

Oettinger allowed two early goals before Casey DeSmith came in and took over. DeBoer tried not to point fingers after Game 5, but he didn't hold back his thoughts on changing things up due to Oettinger's struggles against the Oilers:

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“I didn’t take that lightly and I didn’t blame it all on Jake,’’ DeBoer said.

“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 goals on two shots in an elimination game. So it was partly to spark our team and partly knowing that the status quo had not been working. That’s a pretty big sample size.”

It's hard to blame Oettinger, who was so clutch for the Stars in the regular season and the first two rounds of the playoffs. Although he certainly didn't play his best hockey against Edmonton, he wasn't getting much help from this offense or the blue line.

The American allowed 16 goals in the series. Throwing an ice-cold DeSmith into a potential elimination game was a bold decision from DeBoer, and it evidently backfired.