DALLAS — If you didn’t know any higher, you may suppose Jake Oettinger simply didn’t care.
His voice isn’t pitched, his demeanor by no means animated. He sits at his locker after morning skates and casually discusses hockey, golf, the human situation — no matter you may throw at him — whereas practically each different goalie in the league insists they’ll’t be bothered on sport days, as a result of they’re too mentally locked in on the sport (you already know, the one which doesn’t begin for 9 extra hours).
Then Oettinger sits at his locker after video games, wanting like he’s barely damaged a sweat, casually dissecting and/or dismissing the 60 minutes of insanity that simply performed out in entrance of him.
On first look, you’d be hard-pressed to inform the distinction between an Oettinger who simply received Game 7 of a playoff sequence and an Oettinger who simply sat down for e-book membership.
So whereas Dallas Stars followers had been lamenting the best way Game 1 of this first-round sequence with the Minnesota Wild went, maybe tossing and turning and staring on the ceiling all evening, Oettinger was not. His Saturday evening was like some other.
“As soon as I leave the rink, I really never think about it again,” he mentioned. “That’s goaltending in a nutshell.”
But don’t mistake Oettinger’s coolness for dispassion. There’s a distinction between a gentle pulse and a scarcity of 1, and Oettinger’s short-term reminiscence is one among his best property. It’s why he was so nonchalant shrugging off Dallas’ 6-1 loss in Game 1. It’s why his teammates had been so unconcerned with Oettinger’s pedestrian efficiency in that one. It’s why Stars coach Glen Gulutzan by no means considered triggering a statewide disaster by yanking his No. 1 goalie in favor of journeyman backup Casey DeSmith.
Look, there are many issues for the Stars to be anxious about in this sequence — Quinn Hughes and Brock Faber on the again finish, Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy up entrance, the Foligno boys in the corners, simply to call a handful.
Jake Oettinger certain as heck isn’t one among them.
So no one was stunned — least of all, Oettinger himself — when he turned out to be the most effective participant on the ice Monday evening in the Stars’ frantic, bodily and fabulously entertaining 4-2 win over the Wild. He made 28 saves, gloving down three point-blank possibilities in the primary interval alone, staring down Boldy once more and once more and once more, and sparking Dallas to victory in what felt like a must-win sport, with the sequence shifting to St. Paul for Game 3 on Wednesday evening.
This is what Oettinger does. He strikes on. He bounces again. He responds. He’s now 19-8 with a .919 save share in playoff video games following a loss. Jake Oettinger Jake Oettinges. Time and time once more.
“He’s a top-notch goalie in this league,” captain Jamie Benn mentioned. “He’s been strong for us ever since he got here. His ability to bounce back in games is pretty impressive. Just goes to show how mentally strong he is.”
None of that is to say that Oettinger doesn’t really feel emotions. He’s simply exceptionally good at managing them, at channeling them. He mentioned that he nonetheless will get “butterflies” in each sport he performs in and referred to as it a “dream come true” to play in entrance of the raucous Dallas crowd, 18,000-plus towels waving and voices straining. And, man, had been they ever into this one.
Game 1 rattled these in the gang greater than it rattled the steely gamers on the ice, and you can sense it early. The crowd was making an attempt to will the Stars to snap out of their baffling Game 1 funk, going wild for each easy clear, each profitable go by means of the impartial zone. When Esa Lindell delivered a minor love faucet to Danila Yurov in the nook in the opening minutes, the gang responded prefer it was essentially the most devastating, bone-crunching hit ever made. They simply wished one thing, something, that may make it clear Game 2 could be totally different than Game 1.
It nearly wasn’t. But Oettinger wouldn’t permit a repeat.
A little bit greater than eight minutes into the sport, Bobby Brink discovered Yurov on their own in the low slot from behind the web. Oettinger swatted the puck away, and moments later, Wyatt Johnston flung a shot off the again boards that bounced in off Minnesota goalie Jesper Wallstedt. Less than 4 minutes later, Oettinger made a sprawling glove save on Boldy off a driving centering go from Quinn Hughes. Three minutes later, he gloved down a Boldy breakaway.
It might have been 4-0 Wild. Instead, it was 1-1, with Brock Faber’s sensational one-man effort the one Minnesota shot that discovered its well past Oettinger in the frenetic first.
“Just tried to leave my mark on the game,” Oettinger mentioned. “Wanted to step up and be better than I was in Game 1. Happy I was able to do that.”
Oettinger’s efficiency, because it so typically is, was emblematic of his workforce’s efficiency. You don’t win six playoff sequence in three years with no little resilience, with out studying classes and making use of them rapidly.
Passive and disinterested in Game 1, the Stars had been absolutely engaged in Game 2. Colin Blackwell, all 5-foot-9 of him, laid out 6-foot-2 Yakov Trenin, the league’s main hitter, with an enormous shoulder-to-shoulder blow (Blackwell’s helmet appeared to catch Trenin in the pinnacle as the 2 our bodies reverberated from the contact) late in the primary interval after Zach Bogosian put his teammate in an terrible place with a poorly thought out go in the impartial zone.
Benn began a shoving and jawing match with Joel Eriksson Ek close to the benches.
Tyler Myers doled out three massive hits on one penalty kill in the second interval.
And when Marcus Foligno rag-dolled Thomas Harley head-first into the stanchion and then the ice on the finish of the second, all of the Stars on the ice rushed into the fray.
“I thought they beat us up the first game,” Blackwell mentioned. “That’s what this seven-game series is going to be all about. … A lot of guys did a really good job of just being physical and being harder to play against tonight.”
The Stars’ Jason Robertson had purpose to rejoice after scoring in Game 2 in opposition to the Wild. (Stacy Revere / Getty Images)
Disconnected and disjointed in Game 1, the Stars labored collectively as a five-man unit. There was extra puck assist in the defensive zone, faster breakouts, cleaner passing by means of the impartial zone and extra attacking the web in the offensive zone. Johnston’s first aim got here from a shoot-first mentality and a fortuitous bounce. Matt Duchene made it 2-1 early in the second with a power-play aim, crashing the web and chipping a backhanded Mikko Rantanen feed between Wallstedt’s legs. Jason Robertson bought his second aim in as many video games by deflecting a Nils Lundkvist level shot previous Wallstedt at 7:11 of the third. And after Faber scored once more — correctly going excessive blocker on Oettinger in mild of the slew of glove saves — the Stars locked it down from there.
Lost and confused on the penalty kill in Game 1, the Stars killed off all 4 Wild energy performs in this one, enjoying good and aggressive and leaning on Oettinger when obligatory.
“We know we can be one of the best PKs in the league when we’re all working together,” Oettinger mentioned. “So many clutch, huge moments. In the playoffs, it’s not necessarily how many kills you can get, but the ones you need at the crucial times. We got the kills at the right times and really proud of the guys in front of me.”
“They wanted a bounce-back game, too, the PK,” Robertson mentioned. “They wanted to bounce back hard, and they did. They showed up.”
To a person, the Stars bounced again from one of many workforce’s worst performances in latest reminiscence. These two groups are each so gifted, so deep and so assured that it’s troublesome to find out who has the sting — up entrance, on the again finish, on particular groups, even in aim, given how effectively Wallstedt has performed of late, and how middling Oettinger’s common season was.
But expertise is the place Dallas has the clear benefit. Oettinger and the Stars have been right here earlier than. They’ve completed this earlier than. And they’ve received like this earlier than.
And so there Oettinger sat, quietly holding courtroom at Benn’s stall simply after midnight as Monday grew to become Tuesday, sporting his shorts and his suspenders, wanting like he had simply spent the previous three hours napping peacefully. He was pleased with his guys. He was pleased with himself. But just for a number of extra minutes.
Once he walked out the door into the cool Dallas evening, it could all be forgotten.
“For sure,” he mentioned. “I’m already thinking about Game 3. Can’t wait.”
