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This article was published 15/1/2017 (1341 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

If he wonders what life would be like in the NHL, he's not saying.

Ondrej Pavelec, who made 43 stops for the Manitoba Moose en route to a 4-1 win over the Chicago Wolves at the MTS Centre Sunday afternoon, has taken his demotion to the AHL with class and humility this season.

But the likelihood of being recalled by the Winnipeg Jets, where goaltenders Connor Hellebuyck and Michael Hutchinson have struggled in recent games, is not realistic scenario for the 29-year-old veteran.

"If I think I'm gonna be called up or play for Jets -- I don't think so," said Pavelec after helping the Moose end a five-game losing streak. "That's only my opinion. It's not up to me at all. It's up to management, what they want to do.

"What the plan is -- I said it so many times -- I can't control those things. Whatever they want to do, they're gonna do it and doesn't affect my game at all. It doesn't affect my life at all. So of course you want to play in the NHL like everybody else in this dressing room but it's not up to me, I don't control those things. It's not really in my head right now."

Pavelec's focus was near perfect Sunday.

The Wolves outshot the Moose 21-6 in the first period but were only able to muster a 1-0 lead on blue-liner Petteri Lindbohm's goal, which came on a shot that got a fortunate deflection past Pavelec. Manitoba killed off four power plays in the opening 20 minutes.

Pavelec made a splendid stop on Andrew Agozzino's one-timer on a Wolves' power play late in the first period and a pair of stellar third-period saves -- a point-blank opportunity from Bryce Gervais and a superb grab on Ivan Barbashev's drive -- to shut down any Chicago comeback hopes.

"Not bad, eh," said Moose head coach Pascal Vincent, whose club dropped a 4-2 decision to the Wolves on Friday night. "The first period, we had some penalties we had to kill. Our penalty kill has been really good as of late and Ondrej Pavelec was pretty good in the first period, especially the first."

Dan DeSalvo, on a power play, Ryan Olsen, Scott Kosmachuk and Jimmy Lodge scored for the hosts, who trailed 1-0 after the first period and led 3-1 after 40 minutes. Manitoba, sixth in the Central Division, improved to 15-17-3-2.

"Actually, it helped me get into the game..." said Pavelec of a heavy early workload. "We didn't have a good first period and we picked it up a little bit in the second. It's not the game we wanted to play. It seems they had a lot of energy. They skate very well, it's a very good hockey club. We find a way to win so that's all that matters."

Pavelec's leadership and professionalism have helped keep the Moose in contention for the post-season.

"He bought into giving his best for the Moose and he's been really good," said Vincent. "He's got experience and he feels comfortable."

Serving as a sounding board for younger teammates, including 21-year-old goaltender Eric Comrie, has been a big part of his role in the AHL.

"I don't feel like a young man at all," said Pavelec, an NHL regular for seven seasons. "It feels good, we have a lot of young kids. Of course, at the beginning of the season it wasn't easy for me at all when I got sent down. It's a different kind league, a different style of hockey. So it wasn't easy and I didn't always have a positive attitude. I find a way to battle and find a way to stay sharp."

The differences between the NHL and AHL are clear in Pavelec's estimation.

"As a goalie, you make a little mistake (in the NHL) and it ends up in the back of your net," said Pavelec. "Over here, you're facing a lot of shots and there's a lot of mistakes all over the ice. There's a lot of young guys playing in the league and you can get away with a few mistakes."

Olsen scored the game winner at 12:32 of the second period, gobbling up an errant clearing attempt in the offensive zone and ripping the puck past Wolves goalie Ville Husso.

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"I took three hard strides back and I had a stick in the lane and I just picked it off and turned, saw an opening in the net and... put it in the corner," said Olsen.

Husso made 16 stops for the Wolves, who are second in the Central with a 23-13-3-2 record.

Noteworthy

Moose forward Anthony Peluso is expected to miss the remainder of the season with an unspecified upper-body injury.

Peluso, 27, had two assists and six penalty minutes in 22 games with the Moose. He spent the entire 2015-16 season with the Jets, registering one goal, five points and 44 penalty minutes in 35 NHL games. Peluso’s current two-year contract expires at the conclusion of the 2016-17 season.

mike.sawatzky@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @sawa14