Maurice: Pavelec has 'played well,' so he gets to play more

Ondrej Pavelec has earned the right to keep making starts for the Winnipeg Jets.

So says head coach Paul Maurice, who will continue to turn to the veteran goalie over the likes of Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson.

"He's played well," Maurice said Monday, according to Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun. "So he gets to play more, which pushes the other two guys further down the depth chart."

In seven starts since being called up from the AHL - where he'd played all season after being waived during training camp - Pavelec has a 4-3-0 record with a .895 save percentage.

Not great by any standard, but team captain Blake Wheeler said it goes deeper than the numbers.

"There's a trust factor there," Wheeler said. "He's capable of making some big stops for us ... He made some incredible saves (in Saturday's loss to Colorado). We get one or two of those we're going to be tough to beat."

Pavelec, it should be noted, would need to clear waivers if sent down after 10 games played. Hutchinson would have to go through the same process to be reassigned, while Hellebuyck would not. For now, Maurice seems content to carry three goalies, with Pavelec at the head of the pack.

The Jets, meanwhile, remain in the hunt for a wild-card spot, three points back of St. Louis.