Stars' Bowness praises Oettinger's playoff attitude: 'He's loving this'

Dallas Stars head coach Rick Bowness couldn't be happier about Jake Oettinger's attitude as the young netminder stares down a must-win Game 6 against the Calgary Flames on Friday night.

"What I really like about Jake right now - he's loving this. He's loving the challenge. He is. He's enjoying it," Bowness said Friday, per Sportsnet. "That's what you want to see your athletes do - enjoy this. Playoffs are exciting. You work all year to get here, it's the best time of year to be playing hockey."

He continued: "We gave him the ball, he's running with it and loving it. That'll make him grow, a great experience for him. He'll just keep getting better. It's his attitude you've gotta love, man, he competes. He wants the ball - I love that about him."

Oettinger, 23, surrendered just one goal on 26 shots during his first career playoff start in Game 1. He followed that up with a 29-save shutout in the next game.

Overall, the American is rocking a sterling .956 save percentage and 1.63 goals-against average this series while going toe-to-toe with Vezina Trophy finalist Jacob Markstrom.

Oettinger was also excellent throughout the 2021-22 campaign, which didn't go unnoticed by Flames head coach Darryl Sutter.

"He was 30-15 in the regular season. Nobody talked about it before the series started," Sutter said, according to The Athletic's Saad Yousuf. "He was 30-15, so their MVP in the regular season ... that's a pretty remarkable record. If you hit 30 wins in the NHL, you're top 10."

Oettinger leads all goaltenders this postseason in goals saved above average (8.21) and goals saved above expected (9.97), per Evolving Hockey.

Puck drops on Game 6 of the series at 9:30 p.m. ET.

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