Jets call up Hellebuyck after Pavelec injured by Doan hit

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This article was published 22/11/2015 (3577 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Injured Winnipeg Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec will miss at least one game, but the severity of his injury — and his longer term prognosis — remains unclear, Jets head coach Paul Maurice said Sunday afternoon.

“I don’t have a report for you on Ondrej yet, we’re still gathering information,” Maurice said following his team’s practice at MTS Iceplex.

“I can tell you he won’t be in the lineup tomorrow to play or back up and we’ll get you the information as soon as we get it.”

The Jets, who’ve won two in a row, host the Colorado Avalanche at MTS Centre on Monday evening.

Pressed for any further information on what the team has only described as a lower body injury to Pavelec, Maurice hedged. “I can’t give you an answer by looking at his injury, so we’ll wait until the doctors have weighed in on their diagnosis.”

Pavelec was injured during the second period Saturday night of a 3-2 Jets victory over the Arizona Coyotes. He finished the second period but did not return for the third period as Michael Hutchinson mopped up.

Maurice said he couldn’t confirm a social media report that Pavelec left MTS Centre Saturday night on crutches. “I didn’t see him after the game and I don’t know how he was getting home,” Maurice said. “But that wouldn’t be that big a deal, to be honest with you, if a guy was on them just to keep the pressure off his injury. We get guys on flights all the time with their feet in those casts to keep the compression down to keep as much blood out of it as you can.

“So again, I’m not a doctor but that wouldn’t throw up a big red flag for me.”

Coyotes forward Shane Doan was called for goalie interference on the play on which Pavelec was injured and Maurice was asked if he was concerned about the way his goalie got injured. “It’s a tough one — I think Doan is a pretty honest, pretty clean player. He plays hard.

“But I don’t think his feet came out from underneath him. There’s a responsibility to minimize the damage you do going to the net because everybody would go to the net that way. But I don’t think it was intentional — I really don’t.”

With Pavelec on the shelf, the Jets on Sunday called up goaltender Connor Hellebuyck from the AHL’s Manitoba Moose.

Hellebuyck, 22, has a save percentage of .927 and a goals against average of 2.41 in 10 games for the Moose this season.

The move across the hall from the Moose dressing room to the Jets dressing room is just a few metres, but also a huge step up. Hellebuyck was taking it all in stride, however.

“Pretty simple — I woke up in the same bed as usual and I drove to the same rink as usual. Pretty easy,” said Hellebuyck, who practiced with his new teammates on Sunday.

email: paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek