WINNIPEG – The Winnipeg Jets will kick off a short two-game home stand Tuesday after more than six periods of shutout hockey.
The Jets goaltending tandem of Ondrej Pavelec and Michael Hutchinson have been flawless for two-plus games and enter Tuesday’s game against Nashville with a shutout streak of 128:27.
“We’ve given up one goal in, I think, our last … What is it? Eight or nine periods now. Maybe 10 going back to the third period on the Island,” said head coach Paul Maurice during Sunday night’s post-game media scrum. “Good goaltending and lots of sacrifices in front of him.”
In the first three games of the recently completed four-game road trip, Pavelec allowed just four goals on 87 shots, while Hutchinson stopped all 33 shots he faced in Chicago on Sunday to record his first National Hockey League shutout. It was just his second start of the season after getting pulled in his first appearance.
“It was a big start for our organization for Michael Hutchinson,” said Maurice. “We have full belief that he’s going to play and play well for us for a long time. But his first crack in the NHL, I yanked him in the first game.”
Having a quality backup with the confidence of his teammates will only take more pressure off Pavelec, who had appeared in every Jets game this season before Sunday night. After posting his first shutout, Hutchinson can expect to see an increase in his workload after appearing in just three of the Jets’ first 12 games.
“It will shorten the frequency until his next start ’cause he has lots of confidence and that takes some pressure off Pav, which is something we need to do here,” said Maurice, “in terms of the sheer numbers of starts he gets. And when we get into another one of these back-to-backs, and we’re gonna have them, the guys will see Hutch go into the net with the full belief we have a chance to win the game.”
The Jets host the division-leading Predators on Tuesday with the Pittsburgh Penguins making their only visit of the season on Thursday.
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