Winnipeg • It has been hard for Karel Vejmelka to feel wholly good about his game this season.
But it is not his fault.
The Utah Hockey Club goaltender has started in three games and relieved partner Connor Ingram in one. Through 11 periods of play with Vejmelka between the pipes this season, Utah has scored one goal. The team has been shut out three times with the Czech tending net.
That was the case Tuesday night at Canada Life Centre where the first-place Winnipeg Jets beat Utah Hockey Club 3-0. Vejmelka made 25 saves in the loss.
“I feel bad for him, he was really good,” head coach André Tourigny said. “Now it’s the third time he goes in and we don’t support him offensively. I feel really bad for him because he played really solid.”
The Hockey Club went into the second period tied 0-0 with Winnipeg after weathering its offensive pushes and countering with spurts of its own. It was not a bad showing for Utah, per se, but the Jets’ steadfast experience and skill ultimately prevailed.
Gabriel Vilardi gave Winnipeg a 1-0 lead at the end of the middle frame as Dylan Guenther sat in the box for a hooking penalty. Josh Morrissey’s blast from the point tipped in off of Vilardi at 17:57 for the Jets’ league-best 16th power-play goal of the season.
Winnipeg padded its advantage in the third period off the rush. Nino Niederreiter got the puck while flashing up the left side and pulled it to his backhand before tucking it past Vejmelka to make it 2-0 at 7:30. Niederreiter’s second of the night — an empty-netter at 17:01 — sealed the 3-0 victory.
Utah had four opportunities on the power play to make a dent in a tightly-contested matchup but could not produce on any. It went 0-for-4 on the night. In the Hockey Club’s first power play of the game, it didn’t log a shot on goal.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club forward Lawson Crouse (67) celebrates a goal as Utah Hockey Club hosts the Los Angeles Kings, NHL pre-season hockey in Salt Lake City on Monday, Sept. 23, 2024.
“I think we could be a little bit more selfish at times and shoot the puck a bit more. It ultimately came down to a special teams battle, and we lost that one tonight,” said forward Lawson Crouse who had three shots, four hits and one block. “They capitalized on one of their power plays and we didn’t.”
While Utah’s offensive woes appeared again in Winnipeg, the team played a well-rounded defensive game against a Jets group that was averaging 4.92 goals per game heading into Tuesday’s matchup.
“I think defensively, we did a lot of good things today against a really good team,” Tourigny said.
Vejmelka was a key part of that defensive structure. The goaltender posted 12 saves in the opening 20 minutes of play and set a balanced demeanor for Utah from the crease out.
The Hockey Club has turned to starter Ingram for 10 of its 13 games this season, so when Vejmelka gets the nod, he wants to be as sharp as possible.
“I felt myself getting better throughout the game. Couple good saves in the beginning of the first period, and then I felt better and better,” Vejmelka said. “Just wanted to get some points from the game, but hopefully next time.”
After an unconventional path to his first NHL contract with the Arizona Coyotes in May 2021, Vejmelka is not taking any time for granted in the league.
The Třebíč, Czechia native was selected in the fifth round by the Nashville Predators in the 2015 NHL Draft, but opted not to sign and became a free agent. Vejmelka then played five seasons back home for HC Kometa Brno in the Czech Extraliga league before joining the Coyotes for the 2021-22 season.
He has a 2.75 goals against average and .899 save percentage thus far this season as he continues to prove the team can rely on him against top competition.
“Playing in the NHL was a dream for me like it is for everybody else. I would like to play in the NHL for as long as possible,” Vejmelka said. “Enjoying every minute here with a great group of guys around.”
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Hockey Club goaltender Karel Vejmelka (70) blocks a shot during the game between the Utah Hockey Club and the Colorado Avalanche at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024.
Vejmelka’s father and grandfather both played hockey; it seemed like a natural progression for him. The NHL, though, was never a guarantee. Vejmelka also played soccer and tennis, the latter of which he said was hard to give up. He said the agility skills from those sports have helped him as a goaltender.
Tourigny said he thinks Vejmelka is “capable of playing every night,” but with the nature of Utah’s start-of-season schedule, it has been able to roll with a consistent starter in Ingram. However, with a back-to-back coming at the end of the month and fewer days between games as the season wears on, Tourigny said they’ll “need both of our goaltenders every week.”
“It’s the decision for the coaches every time, so I’m just focusing on being ready every time, every game. It’s my job,” Vejmelka said.
Utah Hockey Club is not interested in moral victories, but it has been able to build its game against two top-tier opponents this week and see strong performances from individual players like Vejmelka on Tuesday.
“Learn from it, move on, get ready for the next one,” Crouse said.
Up next is another divisional matchup — Thursday against the St. Louis Blues — in which Utah will work to earn its first win of the four-game road trip.
