What’s the deal with Jake Oettinger’s up and down season?

It’s been an up-and-down 2023-24 season for Jake Oettinger. The Dallas Stars’ goalie has a 28-13-4 record, but his goals-against-average (GAA) is a shade under three and his save percentage is a dim .898.

In his previous three seasons, he’s had save percentages over .910 and has looked like one of the more consistent netminders in the league. But this season, Oettinger has allowed four goals or more in 14 games.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk are joined by former NHL goalie Carter Hutton to discuss Oettinger’s season and what he needs to do to get back to form for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Frank Seravalli: Alright Carter, I’m going to put you on the spot: What’s up with Jake Oettinger? He’s got a sub-.900 save percentage. I look at his games, and earlier I used the term “binary” earlier when talking about how people talk about certain things, and for him, here’s either on or off: he’s either got a .920 SV% or he’s giving up for or five or six goals, and in the back of his head, he’s worried about getting pulled.

Where’s his game at, and what can the Dallas Stars expect in the playoffs?

Carter Hutton: I think for me, it’s a little inconsistency, and that comes with expectations. We started talking about the Olympics and who will start for the U.S., and Oettinger is almost always at the top of that conversation. In the past, he outperformed what was expected of him. But now, Dallas has a good team and they have players who can help him be better.

For me, I think part of it is between the ears. I have a lot of confidence in his game, but I think he needs to simplify it. When his game is off, it reminds me of Ilya Samsonov when he gets sloppy. When it’s simple, Oettinger is consistent. I assume he’ll fall back on that in the playoffs.