Well-stocked Jets have goalies galore

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This article was published 23/11/2015 (3578 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There are few teams in the National Hockey League — perhaps no other team — better positioned to respond to the loss of their starting goaltender than the Winnipeg Jets.

With an injured Ondrej Pavelec out of the lineup for at least a game — and his long-term prognosis uncertain — the Jets collectively shrugged their shoulders Sunday and moved up the next guy on an almost embarrassingly deep goalie depth chart.

The next guy in this case, Connor Hellebuyck, didn’t have to go far — just a couple of steps across the hallway is all it takes these days for someone to go from the AHL’s Manitoba Moose to the NHL’s Jets.

“I woke up in the same bed as usual and I drove to the same rink as usual. Pretty easy,” Hellebuyck said Sunday after practising with his new teammates at MTS Iceplex.

Hellebuyck’s having a strong season on a weak Moose team, posting a .927 save percentage and 2.41 goals-against average in 10 games. Eric Comrie — another of the bright goaltending lights in the Jets system — will take over No. 1 duties for the Moose in Hellebuyck’s absence.

It was the most seamless transition imaginable for the Jets as they prepared for life without Pavelec, who sustained a lower-body injury Saturday at the MTS Centre during a 3-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes.

With Pavelec out indefinitely, Hellebuyck will back Michael Hutchinson, who was already getting plenty of work in a 1/1A rotation the Jets have employed with Pavelec and Hutchinson for much of the last two seasons.

“It’s exciting to get an opportunity to play more games,” said Hutchinson, “but at the same time nothing changes in my preparation.”

How long the Jets will be without Pavelec remains in question.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice was noncommittal Sunday.

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

“I can tell you he won’t be in the lineup (tonight) 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, play host to the Colorado Avalanche tonight.

Pressed for further information on what the team has described only as a lower-body injury, 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 in a collision with Coyotes forward Shane Doan. He finished the period, but was replaced for the third by Hutchinson.

Maurice said he couldn’t confirm a social-media report Pavelec left the MTS Centre on crutches.

“I didn’t see him after the game and I don’t know how he was getting home,” the coach 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.”

Doan was called for goalie interference on the play 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,” the coach said.

“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.”

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @PaulWiecek