Keep me in, coach: Pavs

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This article was published 09/03/2016 (3554 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

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Overworked, he is not.

Which is why you hear Winnipeg Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec more or less asking for more time in the crease no matter what the late-season plight of his struggling team.

“Well, I’m getting paid to play the game,” Pavelec said as the Jets head into Detroit for Game No. 67 of the season tonight. “I don’t know. I’m healthy right now and ready to go. And we’ll see what Paul’s decisions will be for the next games. I didn’t play for a while. I play to play the games. I want to play.”

Jets coach Paul Maurice has gone to Pavelec for three straight starts for a second time since the organization’s No. 1 netminder returned Feb. 13 from a lengthy knee injury.

All season, which for Pavelec is the time before his Nov. 21 injury and after, he has started three straight games just four times.

The 28-year-old said he is “right” now, and feeling sharp and ready when he is asked to play.

“Yes, I feel really good now,” he said. “I feel good in practice. I can do everything. I feel good in the games.”

So far, it’s been 23 appearances and numbers (2.84 goals-against average, .902 save percentage) that mirror more closely his career stats (2.86, .907).

But again, this doesn’t seem to be an entirely “goalie” issue, as Maurice hinted at Wednesday, and not for the first time this season.

“When you come off after a game giving up four goals and say you like the way your goalie played, you’ve got quite a bit of room defensively that you need to get better,” he said.

Pavelec has never been one wrapped up in numbers, and he was consistent in that view after Tuesday’s 4-2 loss to Nashville.

“Bad bounces against our team, yeah,” he said. “I didn’t see the penalty call (a doubtful interference penalty to Tyler Myers that led to Nashville’s third goal). The referees are part of the game. But you can’t blame the game on the referees. That would be a huge mistake for our club. Even if you like the penalty or not. Those things happen.

“Look around at the group we played with. That’s what management wants, right? To play with the young guys. They want develop the kids. It’s great for them. It’s great experience for those young guys to play against a team like Nashville.”

Pavelec asked if he saw value in that.

“I don’t know what to say to that,” he said. “We’re losing the game, right? It’s 4-2 against a very good team. We’ll see. It will show in the future. But good for those kids, they had a chance to play and take some responsibility. A lot of guys have played their first NHL games this year. I guess that’s what we want. And we’ve got 16 games left and we have to battle hard and see what happens.”

And not so subtly after facing 31 Nashville shots that included a high number of Grade A chances, Pavelec raised what again has to be the team’s hot-button issue for the future.

‘I’m healthy right now and ready to go. And we’ll see what Paul’s decisions will be for the next games. I didn’t play for a while. I play to play the games. I want to play’– Ondrej Pavelec

“If you play teams like that, you have to have play defence,” he said. “If you don’t play defence, you can’t win.

“In the first period (Tuesday), we did a great job keeping them to the outside. I think we kind of controlled that period. But it’s 20 minutes. We fall asleep for a little bit and they made us pay.”

For his own game, Tuesday was another instance where Pavelec found himself bumped, jostled and bodied about.

It’s the time of year where rules are more guidelines, the veteran goalie suggested without complaint.

“That’s the game this time of year,” he smiled. “They’re playing for playoffs. That’s the game… how to play. It’s a hard, tough game. Those are man games.

“But I think they battle all over the ice, along the boards. They had some big hits. That’s how Nashville plays. They have good players and big guys, and they block a lot of shots. They’re experienced and they know how to play those games.

“Sometimes it’s close. Sometimes they’re in the crease a little bit, sometimes not. I understand it’s a tough call for the referees. But they can review. Again, that’s the game. That’s the NHL at this time of year. Everybody’s going to the net, driving to the net. I didn’t see anything different than other games.

“It’s what the good teams do.”

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca