DALLAS (AP) — Winnipeg Jets fans have showered Jake Oettinger with chants referring to his role as the USA Hockey backup goalie to Connor Hellebuyck during the 4 Nations Face-Off earlier this year.
Well, that “U.S. backup” has Dallas on the verge of its third consecutive trip to the Western Conference Final. Oettinger has mostly outplayed Hellebuyck throughout these NHL playoffs and in the second-round Western Conference series that the Stars lead 3-1 over the top-seeded Jets.
“Not personal at all. Just trying to beat a good team. There’s a lot of other things going on other than me versus Connor,” Oettinger said after his 31-save performance in a 3-1 win at home in Game 4. “He’s been good and gave them a chance to win, and I’m expecting his best game of the season next game.”
That will be Game 5 in Winnipeg on Thursday night, the first opportunity for the Stars to close out the series.
The 26-year-old Dallas goalie is 7-4 with a .917 save percentage this postseason, allowing 10 goals the past five games. The latest was one he probably should have stopped in Game 4, but the puck slid under his legs for a tying goal a minute into the second period.
“Great response ... unflappable. Our history with him, there was no panic on the bench. They knew that with Jake, that one goal like that, it wasn’t going to bleed into four or five, that he had the mental toughness to recover quickly,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said Wednesday. “And he did, and he was our best player the rest of the way.”
Hellebuyck's postseason troubles
While Hellebuyck is the odds-on favorite to win his third Vezina Trophy, that award is for the top goalie of the regular season. It has been another difficult postseason so far for the Michigan-born goalie who turns 32 on Monday — which would be the day of a Game 7 at home that the Jets would have to force for a chance to advance.
Hellebuyck is 5-6 with an .851 save percentage and 3.48 goals-against average in the playoffs, after a league-high 47 wins and eight shutouts in the regular season with a .925 save percentage and 2.00 GAA. He has lost his past nine road playoff starts since 2023, including 0-5 with a 5.84 GAA this year.
“Every loss is frustrating,” Hellebuyck said. "That being said, I’m really looking forward to the next one. Leave it all out there.”
It will be at home, where Hellebuyck had a 21-save shutout as the Jets won 4-0 in Game 2. He has exactly 21 saves in each of the four games against the Stars.
Winnipeg has scored only five goals in its three losses to the Stars. Its only lead in those was for 5 minutes, 13 seconds in Game 1 before Mikko Rantanen's second-period hat track.
“At the end of the day, we’ve got to get him some run support. He’ll do his job,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said of his goalie. “We’ve got to get him the lead, we’ve got to get out in front. Make this team chase us, instead of us chasing them like we have in the last couple of games.”
Mikael Granlund had a hat trick against Hellebuyck in Game 4, with a goal in each period.
Oettinger's goals
Oettinger, already in his fourth consecutive postseason, has talked about the obvious goal of wanting to win a Stanley Cup. He also wants to be the starting goalie for the United States in the 2026 Milan Olympics.
“I still consider him a really young goaltender, so, yeah I mean he’s special,” DeBoer said. “He's been to two conference finals now and I think he’s looking to find a way to make sure we go further this year.”
Hellebuyck was the No. 1 goalie for the Americans at the 4 Nations tournament in February, when they finished as the runner-up to Canada.
Stars fans in Game 4 on Tuesday night got a chance to chant “Otter's better!, Otter's better!”
“It’s been unreal. Just can’t help but put a smile on your face when the crowd’s chanting your name and stuff," Oettinger said. "Hopefully I can continue to play well, and they can continue chanting my name.”
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press
