Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger stopped all but one shot that the Winnipeg Jets flung at him Tuesday, was deemed “probably our best player” by his head coach despite the fact that a teammate carded a hat trick and, after it all, explained why it mattered as much as it did.
Well, y’know, outside the obvious.
“If we lose tonight,” Oettinger said, “it’s right back to home ice for them.”
It still is, technically, though it’s got quite a different vibe to it given the circumstances the Stars have created.
“We put them under pressure and they have to win the game,” defenseman Lian Bichsel said, “and we want to go out there and win the game, as well, and close it out.”
The Stars are one win from a trip to the Western Conference finals after Tuesday’s 3-1 win vs. the Jets in Game 4 at American Airlines Center, and with a 3-1 series lead over the Presidents’ Trophy winners. Dallas, which has won two straight against Winnipeg, can advance to the next round with a Game 5 win Thursday at Canada Life Centre.
Related:Five thoughts from Stars-Jets Game 4: Granlund’s hat trick puts Dallas in driver’s seat
The Stars, who are 5-4 in potential clinchers during head coach Pete DeBoer’s tenure, split the series’ first two games on the road in Winnipeg and won Game 1 behind a Mikko Rantanen hat trick.
The Jets, and especially goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, are a better team at home than on the road. Hellebuyck‘s 1.93 home goals against average trumped his 2.43 road goals against average during the regular season. He’s allowed just 2.16 goals per game at home in the postseason and shut out the Stars in Game 2.
“We’ve won on the road before in there,” DeBoer said. “We won on the road in Colorado, which is an intimidating rink, too. So I think our group’s comfortable on the road, but you’ve got to go out and get it done. It’s always hard to send a team home for the summer.”
In the first round, with a chance to clinch after five games vs. the Colorado Avalanche, the Stars were wacked 7-4 in Game 6 and had to rely on Rantanen’s Game 7 heroics to advance. The Stars lost their last potential Game 5 clincher in the second round vs. Colorado last season, but won Game 6 in double overtime. They haven’t capitalized on their first potential clincher in a single series since the first round against the Minnesota Wild two postseasons ago.
A win Thursday would be beneficial for reasons beyond the obvious. The Edmonton Oilers — who bounced the Stars out of the postseason last year and could await in this year’s conference finals — lead the Las Vegas Golden Knights 3-1 in the other Western Conference series and could finish it as soon as Wednesday night.
The Stars and Jets could play until as late as Monday if the former can’t win Games 5 and 6.
Dallas would like to eliminate the “if” factor.
“The ball’s in our court now, we’re up 3-1,” Oettinger said. “It’s on us to play a mature game up in Winnipeg. We don’t want to have to come back here and play again. We’ve all been talking about how bad we want to get back to the conference final, now it’s our turn to show up.”
