Did Pete DeBoer cost himself a return to the Dallas Stars after goalie drama?

Pete DeBoer may have coached his last game for the Dallas Stars after his head-scratching decision to pull goalie Jake Oettinger early in Game 5 -- a move he later defended, despite the mounting criticism.

In the first period of Game 5 against the Edmonton Oilers, the team's standout goaltender allowed two goals on the first two shots he faced, leading DeBoer to swap Oettinger out for his backup Casey DeSmith.

In theory, it's not necessarily a bad idea to pull the starter if he's not performing up to par early on. But to do that to Oettinger, who was the cornerstone in the Stars' success, just seven minutes into an elimination game is plain disrespectful. Particularly because the goals were more the team's fault than the netminder's.

One was a sloppy line change leading to a partial breakaway, and the other was on the power play where the Oilers were skating circles around the Dallas defenders. The coach said the move was intended to "spark our team and wake them up," and Dallas did have some life at points, but DeSmith would go on to allow three more goals plus an empty netter in the 6-3 loss to Edmonton.

DeBoer denied placing the blame solely on Oettinger, but he had some scathing comments to make about the star goaltender in the post-game press conference.

"I didn't blame it all on Jake, 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... That's a pretty big sample size."

Pete DeBoer, following Game 5

Despite DeBoer's assessment, Oettinger's teammates had the complete opposite reaction and were quick to assume the fault for being eliminated.

"It's unacceptable for us to hang him out like that," said Jason Robertson, one of the few Stars who put forth a mighty effort with four goals during the series. "The whole playoffs, he's been our guy, whole season. It's just unacceptable from us."

Comments like Robertson's are in direct contrast to DeBoer's opinion of the situation, and it really raises doubt as to whether the players would continue to have faith in their bench boss after such a costly blunder.

Who will stay and who will go?

Hockey fans everywhere remember the jaw-dropping trade that sent Patrick Roy from the Montreal Canadiens to the Colorado Avalanche. It was directly a result of coaching mistakes, leading Roy to demand a trade -- in the middle of the game.

Roy had the opposite problem that Oettinger is facing. The Hall of Fame goalie was left in net and hung out to dry as the Detroit Red Wings lit the lamp over and over again. The home crowd actually started cheering sarcastically when Roy did manage to stop the puck. As soon as he was mercifully pulled, nine goals later, Roy made a beeline for Canadiens president and told him that he had played his last game for the Canadiens.

Will Oettinger have the same fate? Not if the Stars can commit to parting ways with Pete DeBoer. Oettinger has had three straight seasons with 35-plus wins, and will likely be named to Team USA's Olympic roster ahead of next year's Winter Games.

At age 26, Oettinger has so much to offer and is smack-dab in the middle of his prime. It would be a no-brainer for Stars executives to find a coach that would smooth over this drama, rather than hang onto a bench boss who is so much easier to replace than a young, star-caliber starting goalie.

It's unfortunate that Oettinger had to fall on the sword and watch his team be eliminated while sitting on the bench. But the best consolation would be parting ways with DeBoer, despite the success he's had behind the Dallas bench, in favor of prioritizing one of the most fundamental players on the roster.