It Will Be All About Pavs When the Playoffs Start

It wasn’t long ago when Ondrej Pavelec might have been considered the Winnipeg Jets’ No. 2 goaltender.

There was definitely a stretch from mid-December until early March when Michael Hutchinson had taken the reins.

First he beat the Wild 2-0.

However, down the stretch, when it mattered, Pavs was The Man!

And yesterday, the Natonal Hockey League acknowledged that truth once again.

The NHL named Pavelec its Second Star of the Week, for the final week of the NHL season. It was the second time this season and the second time in less than a months that Pavelec was recognized by the league for his outstanding play. He was named the First Star of the Week for the week ending March 22.

Pavelec did not allow a goal in the three games he played last week as he led the Jets to the team’s best finish ever and a berth in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It’s the first time the Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise has reached the playoffs since 2007.

During the week, a week in which he was battling the flu, Pavelec stopped all 83 shots he faced in recording three consecutive shutouts (how that gets him “Second” Star and not “First” is anybody’s guess). He had a 32-save shutout on April 6 in what he called “one of the toughest building in the league to play in,” at Minnesota. The Jets won that game 2-0.

then he beat the Blues 1-0.

He then became the first goalie in Atlanta/Winnipeg franchise history to record back-to-back shutouts on consecutive nights with a 31-save effort in blanking the St. Louis Blues 1-0. He completed his week with a 21-save shutout against the Colorado Avalanche on April 9, but the Jets dropped a 1-0 shootout decision to Patrick Roy’s Avs.

As a result of his play last week, he will enter the post-season on shutout streak of 187 minutes and five seconds. He completed the week with a 0.00 goals against average and a 1.000 save percentage.

Overall this season, Pavelec had his best year as an NHL netminder. That’s in no small way to an incredible finish. He completed the 2014-15 season with a record of 22-16-8 with career bests in save percentage (.920), goals against average (2.28), and shutouts (five). His 16 career shutouts became a franchise record this season. He is already the franchise leader in games played (338) and wins (135).

Then he shut out the Avs for 65 minutes.

“I think we played good games as a team,” said Pavelec earlier this week, trying to re-direct the credit to his teammates. “In the two games we won, we scored the first goal and that was big. I was able to see the puck. The guys cleaned the front of the net and let me see the puck. It was a great team effort.

“Lately I think we’ve been good on how we start the game. Every game is kind of different. Against Rangers (last weekend) it was back and forth but last week we took the lead and we played really well defensively.”

During the wins over Minnesota and St. Louis and in the 0-0 tie in Colorado, it was almost a brawl in front of Pavelec’s crease. Teams don’t give goaltenders much room these days.

“That’s the style those teams play,” said Pavelec. “That’s what those teams do and they’re pretty good at it. That’s the way the NHL is: Lots of tough play in front of the net, lots of scrambles. And a lot of point shots with big guys in front of the net. That’s NHL hockey today.

“It’s always a big battle in front of the net. It’s the NHL style. But our guys have been handling it really well. They’ve been cleaning out the front of the net and giving me a good view.”

That’s exactly what they’ll need to do this week when the Stanley Cup playoffs open in Anaheim. Thursday night, 9:30 on Sportsnet.

Posted by: Scott Taylor for RiverCitySports.com