After a hot start to the season, the Utah Hockey Club struggled throughout the rest of the first month and into the second of their inaugural NHL season. Much of these struggles have been attributed to defensive issues, as the early focus was on Utah’s blue line, which started without John Marino, who is still injured, and lost Sean Durzi in the third game of the season.
These two were expected to make up the right side of Utah’s top four — Durzi started the season playing alongside Mikhail Sergachev on the top pairing and if healthy, Marino would have played the right side on Utah’s second pairing. In addition to the injuries the blue line is dealing with, observers have paid a lot of attention to this uni to see how the recently-acquired Olli Maatta would fit in and if rookie Maveric Lamoureux would continue to develop at the NHL level.
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Despite being undermanned, Utah has been one of the better teams in the NHL at suppressing scoring chances at even strength. They allow the seventh-fewest shot attempts per game, the second-fewest scoring chances, and the fifth-fewest high-danger scoring chances and high-danger goals.
However, the team has still struggled to keep the puck out of the net, allowing the 10th-most goals per game. Utah has been plagued by penalties and defensive-zone turnovers, contributing to their high number of goals allowed. Still, one massive factor in Utah’s struggles has been Connor Ingram’s rough start to the season. After Karel Vejmelka‘s masterclass against the Carolina Hurricanes, where he saved 49 of 50 shots, it is worth a conversation if he should be starting in Utah’s net more often.
History of Vejmelka & Ingram’s Goaltending Tandem
Vejmelka was drafted in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft and Ingram was selected in the third round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Both are now working on their fourth season of NHL experience and are in their third season of sharing the same crease.
In the first two seasons, the two shared the Arizona Coyotes goaltending duties. Vejmelka carried the starters’ workload, starting 49 games compared to Ingram’s 26. Last season, their workloads flipped, with Ingram taking on the bulk of the workload, starting 48 games compared to 33 for Vejmelka.
Both goalies have struggled to find consistency throughout their careers and have allowed more goals than expected. However, Ingram finished last season tied for the league lead in shutouts, so, unsurprisingly, Ingram has acted as their number-one goalie throughout the season’s first month.
Detailing Ingram’s Early Season Struggles With Utah
As mentioned, Ingram was tied for the league lead with six shutouts last season. He also had some respectable results for a goalie taking on a starter’s workload for the first time, finishing the season with a 2.91 goals-against average (GAA), a .907 save percentage (SV%) and saved 5.2 goals more than expected.
Ingram’s start to this season has been the opposite. He has only made three quality starts in the 12 games he has played. He has allowed 6.97 goals more than expected, which is fourth-worst among goalies who have started at least four games. He also has a .879 SV% and a 3.40 GAA, which ranks sixth- and seventh-worst among qualified goaltenders, respectively.
Vejmelka Making a Case to be Utah’s Starting Goalie
So far this season, Vejmelka has been the far better goalie in a small sample size, appearing in five games and making four starts. Utah has a 1-3-0 record in those four starts, but that cannot be blamed on Vejmelka, as three of the four starts he has made were graded quality starts.
In the three losses where Vejmelka was in the net, Utah’s offense was shut out twice and only managed to score one goal in the other loss. Vejmelka has only allowed three-plus goals once in his first four starts, and that outlier came against the Colorado Avalanche, who are in the top 10 for goals scored per game.
Of qualified goalies who have made four starts this season, Vejmelka ranks eighth with a 2.37 GAA, sixth with a .926 SV%, and fifth with a plus-0.86 goals saved above expected.
In the past, Vejmelka has been a significant area of concern for this team. However, this season, he has demonstrated some growth and consistency in a small sample size. While this is not a large enough sample to say he is a better goaltender than Ingram and deserves the starting job, he has done enough to earn the net more consistently considering Ingram’s struggles to start the season.
All stats via NaturalStatTrick & Hockey Reference.
