DALLAS — Jake Oettinger will never again take his health for granted.
Professional athletes — especially the younger ones — often have a feeling of invincibility.
The Dallas Stars goaltender knows what that’s like. And the sinking, helpless feeling when it’s taken away.
It was abruptly decided last July a lingering ankle injury Oettinger played through during the 2022-23 campaign and playoffs required surgery. The procedure cost him most of his summer workout schedule. He only started skating right before training camp.
“You learn a lot about yourself,” Oettinger said. “You appreciate just being in the net and being healthy that much more.”
The 25-year-old, who has helped his team reach the NHL’s Western Conference final against the Edmonton Oilers, started this season strong with a 5-0-1 record and a .939 save percentage.
His numbers, however, then started to fall off, going 6-7-1 with an .883 save percentage over his next 15 appearances before suffering a lower-body injury that sidelined him from mid-December to mid-January.
“I’d be lying to you if I said there wasn’t some concern at one point in the year,” Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said of Oettinger’s dip in form. “He’s such a mature, unflappable kid. You saw a little bit of vulnerability.
“But I always took comfort in knowing that he had a foundation there that he could rely on, that his character is second to none, his leadership’s second to none, that he was gonna get back there.”
Oettinger, who was still named to his first all-star game, got things in order once he returned to the lineup, going 24-7-2 with a .908 save percentage the rest of the way, including an eight-game win streak from mid-March to the beginning of April that truly signalled he was back heading into the playoffs.
The six-foot-six, 224-pound netminder from Lakeville, Minn., credited those closest to him — including his fiancée — with the process of pushing through.
“Even when the games weren’t going well, I felt like I was like doing good things,” Oettinger said. “When the bounces don’t go your way and you’re not playing your best, it can really feel like a lot.
“I started getting the bounces and putting the pieces together of what I was working on, and relying on the people around me.”
Feeling more like his old self, Oettinger still finished the regular season with lowest save percentage of his four-year career at .905 after a high-water mark of .918 in 2022-23 when the Stars also made the conference final.
He raised his…