Edmonton Oilers v Dallas Stars
Getty Images

With the Dallas Stars facing elimination in Game 5 of the Western Conference Final, goaltender Jake Oettinger surrendered two goals on the Edmonton Oilers' first two shots of the contest. As a result, Stars coach Pete DeBoer made the decision to pull Oettinger just 7:09 into the game in favor of backup Casey DeSmith.

DeSmith ultimately ended up surrendering three goals on 20 shots the rest of the way, and the Stars lost Game 5 by a 6-3 decision. It marked the third consecutive season that Dallas has been eliminated in the Western Conference Final.

Oettinger had a chance to speak on the controversial situation during the Stars' season-ending media availability on Saturday.

"It sucks. It's embarrassing. Any time you get pulled, doesn't matter if it's playoffs or regular season, you just wanna go right off the ice, go into your bed, and not talk to anyone," Oettinger said.

DeBoer stated prior to Game 4 that the coaching staff had kicked the tires on giving Oettinger a rest because he had played more minutes than any other NHL goaltender. In addition, DeBoer was worried that Oettinger was dealing with "an upper-respiratory thing."

However, both DeBoer and Oettinger didn't seem to acknowledge that there was any type of rift between the two of them.

"No one is a bigger fan of Jake Oettinger than me, as a person or a goalie," DeBoer said, while also revealing that the two haven't had a chance to speak since Game 5 on Thursday.

"I think for me, it's just the whole experience, just have to learn from it," Oettinger added. "It's going to help me grow and be a better person, be a better goalie. My job is to stop the puck. I feel like I'm one of the best in the world when I am playing well at doing that. That's all I'm going to focus on. The extra stuff is just extra stuff to me. If I go out there next year and I'm the best goalie in the world, [this situation] doesn't matter. One of you guys could be coaching and it doesn't matter. Just try to be the best I can be and learn from the experience."

Oettinger did have his fair share of struggles throughout the Western Conference Final. After all, Oettinger tallied a 3.20 goals-against-average and just a .853 save percentage in five games against the Oilers.

The Stars fell behind in 15 of their 18 games throughout the Stanley Cup playoffs, which may have explained why DeBoer felt it was necessary to give Oettinger the early hook. On the other hand, neither of Edmonton's two early goal were really Oettinger's fault, with the second tally coming on a Mattias Janmark breakaway.

Entering Game 5, Oettinger was coming off of a strong performance in which he allowed just two goals on 31 shots. For the third consecutive contest, the Stars mustered just one goal or less, which put them in a 3-1 series hole.