As of yesterday night, the new Jets got their first win since moving back to the 'Peg in thrilling fashion at home against the undermanned Pittsburgh Penguins. The fans in the MTS Centre, blew the roof off the house with cheering and screaming as the clock struck zero on a 2-1 final. Although it was a moving sight to see the Jets' first win since April 26th, 1996 in front of their home fans who had waited so long to have NHL hockey return to their city, the secondary story coming out of this victory is the stellar performance by Jets goalie Ondrej Pavelec.
The Czech goaltender was selected 41st overall in 2005 by Atlanta, and was expected to develop into a premiere player between the pipes in the NHL. Pavelec spent the early part of his career in the AHL or backing up Atlanta's other potential superstar-bound goalie Kari Lehtonen. When Lehtonen was traded to Dallas in 2009-10, Atlanta opened the door for Pavelec to prove he was worth the hype that had tattoed on him by members of the organization during his tenure with the Thrashers.
After a decent-at-best campaign as a starter in '09-'10, Pavelec came into form during the first half of last season. Many point to the surprising offensive production of the recently acquired defenseman Dustin Byfuglien for Atlanta's hot start to year, but Pavelec was the consistent night-in-night out performer that Atlanta could rely on after a breakdown here and there. Pavelec was proving he was just as good, if not better, as he was expected to be by the Thrashers' scouts when they drafted him. I would have probably put him among my top five or six goalies in the entire league during those first few months. However, the honeymoon did not last long.
As the team's overall performance on the ice declined, so did Pavelec's ability to stop the puck. The second of half of his year can only be described as "collapse". Atlanta melted out of the playoff picture as the losses mounted, and even though the team around him was not nearly playing up to snuff themselves, Pavelec just seemed lost some games.
Despite a change of scenery for the netminder and the rest of the Thrashers, the first few games of this season were no different, unfortunately. After a 5-1 massacre in the Jets season opener against Montréal and tough losses in their insuing two matches after that, Pavelec just looked horrendous. Just bad. Pavy seemed flustered, out of place, let in weak goals (such as the eventual game winning goal in Chicago,) and became a "puck fighter".
Everything changed yesterday night, as Pavelec denied the Penguins time and time again, including a series of semi-breakaways late in the 2nd period. Although the opponent netted one goal shortly after that spectacular series of stonewalling the Pens' forwards, Pavelec deserved a shutout for his game. He looked like the Ondrej Pavelec of early last season, only this time, he got to hear the earth-shaking ovation of crazed Winnipeg hockey fans after each big play and at the conclusion of the game (instead of an uneducated, lethargic Thrashers crowd of 5,000-some.)
Hopefully this game will prove to be huge for Ondrej Pavelec's confidence. He really has the ability to be a great goalie in this league, it is just a matter how how consistently he can string together performances like yesterday's to get him back on track to becoming the prized netminder he was once expected to be.
SEE SOME OF ONDREJ PAVELEC'S BIG SAVES FROM THE GAME:Richard Park, 2nd 16:47 semi-breakaway
Pascal Dupuis, 2nd 17:59 semi-breakaway
Deryk Engelland, 2nd 18:16 glove save
Steve Sullivan, 3rd 4:40 semi-breakaway
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| (Photo by Marianne Helm/Getty Images) |
After a decent-at-best campaign as a starter in '09-'10, Pavelec came into form during the first half of last season. Many point to the surprising offensive production of the recently acquired defenseman Dustin Byfuglien for Atlanta's hot start to year, but Pavelec was the consistent night-in-night out performer that Atlanta could rely on after a breakdown here and there. Pavelec was proving he was just as good, if not better, as he was expected to be by the Thrashers' scouts when they drafted him. I would have probably put him among my top five or six goalies in the entire league during those first few months. However, the honeymoon did not last long.
As the team's overall performance on the ice declined, so did Pavelec's ability to stop the puck. The second of half of his year can only be described as "collapse". Atlanta melted out of the playoff picture as the losses mounted, and even though the team around him was not nearly playing up to snuff themselves, Pavelec just seemed lost some games.
Despite a change of scenery for the netminder and the rest of the Thrashers, the first few games of this season were no different, unfortunately. After a 5-1 massacre in the Jets season opener against Montréal and tough losses in their insuing two matches after that, Pavelec just looked horrendous. Just bad. Pavy seemed flustered, out of place, let in weak goals (such as the eventual game winning goal in Chicago,) and became a "puck fighter".
Everything changed yesterday night, as Pavelec denied the Penguins time and time again, including a series of semi-breakaways late in the 2nd period. Although the opponent netted one goal shortly after that spectacular series of stonewalling the Pens' forwards, Pavelec deserved a shutout for his game. He looked like the Ondrej Pavelec of early last season, only this time, he got to hear the earth-shaking ovation of crazed Winnipeg hockey fans after each big play and at the conclusion of the game (instead of an uneducated, lethargic Thrashers crowd of 5,000-some.)
Hopefully this game will prove to be huge for Ondrej Pavelec's confidence. He really has the ability to be a great goalie in this league, it is just a matter how how consistently he can string together performances like yesterday's to get him back on track to becoming the prized netminder he was once expected to be.
SEE SOME OF ONDREJ PAVELEC'S BIG SAVES FROM THE GAME:Pascal Dupuis, 2nd 17:59 semi-breakaway
Deryk Engelland, 2nd 18:16 glove save
Steve Sullivan, 3rd 4:40 semi-breakaway
All videos curtosey of http://www.jets.nhl.com
