Winnipeg Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec was frustrated with some of his teammates following their 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Islanders on Tuesday night.
According to the Winnipeg Sun, Pavelec spoke out in his post-game comments, complaining that the offence shot from the boards and never attempted to get traffic or bodies in front of the Islanders goal.
After practice on Wednesday, he reiterated his feelings towards his team's game plan.
"We just threw the puck away in their zone," said Pavelec a day after the loss. "We're practicing every day what we're supposed to do, and we just don't do that. It was bad to see it. We were just shooting for a rebound, and nobody's driving to the net."
Head coach Claude Noel felt the credit for his team earning a point in the loss to the Islanders belonged to his man between the pipes.
"Pavelec was real good, He played strong," said Noel. "He helped us to at least get to a shootout. Thank him for the point."
Heading into Thursday's contest against the Montreal Canadiens, Pavelec is 11-11-5 with a 2.98 goals against average so far on the season.
While pleased with how hard his teammates are working, Pavelec believes more traffic in front of the opposing goal will lead to greater success.
"We've got good defencemen who can shoot the puck well, and they're looking for a shot from the point," said Pavelec. "That's great, but we need guys in front. It's that simple. I know it's tough to play in front. It hurts, but it is what it is. That's how you score the goals. So hopefully we're going to be better in this part next game."
Jets forward Blake Wheeler, who currently has three goals and 21 points on the season, also thinks his team needs to get into the more physical areas in front of the other team's netminder.
"We were shooting a decent amount, but some of them were just kind of hope shots from areas where you're not really going to get much of a rebound," said Wheeler. "If we can get guys going to the net and guys shooting, hopefully the puck will squirt into some areas where we can put it in."
