After Utah's latest win, a tight 4-1 win over a surging Detroit Red Wings team, it was hard not to marvel at the performance starting goalie Karel Vejmelka had. Albeit the one goal he allowed, he was nearly perfect with his 27 saves. Even the goal he couldn't stop came on a Red Wings power play, and Detroit never got the better of him when Utah was down a man. The 4-1 score may look like Utah won the game easily, but it was deceptively a much closer contest in the third period, with the score at 2-1. Every save Vejmelka made was important, but he truly elevated his performance at the right moment, when the Red Wings were aggressively trying to tie the game. But no matter what Detroit did, Vejmelka was ready. He anchored the defense, and when the time came for Utah to strike offensively, Dylan Guenther was there to score his team-high 16th goal and officially end Detroit's momentum. The game against Detroit certainly highlighted all the reasons why the Mammoth love having him as its starting goalie and why general manager Bill Armstrong gave him a contract extension at the end of last season. But while his 27 starts — the second-highest mark in the league — are a testament to how much Utah trusts and relies on him, it also highlights a different problem: Utah has hardly won without him. Vejmelka's 15 wins are currently tied for most wins in the league with Jake Oettinger, which is an impressive mark. But when looking at the Mammoth's backup, Vitek Vanecek, the reason for Vejmelka's importance becomes even clearer. Vanecek has only recorded two wins for the Mammoth this season, going 2-7-1 in his eight starts. Compared to Vejmelka, who is 15-9-2 on the season, the mark looks even worse. Though nobody was expecting Vanecek to outperform Vejmelka, Utah does have to be a bit concerned that the team never seems to win with him on the ice. Of course, there have been times where Utah's defense could also have played better and helped Vanecek. The difference between him and Vejmelka's play is apparent on the ice. Ever since Vejmelka was benched in Utah's 6-3 loss to San Jose on Dec. 1, Vejmelka has elevated his play, boasting the second-best save percentage at .921 with a 5-2 record. While it's certainly unfair to compare Vanecek — who has only played three games in December, one of which was in relief of Vejmelka — he still has yet to win a start since Utah's 3-2 win against the Winnipeg Jets back on Oct. 26. That's a long time to go without a win in the NHL. There's time for Vanecek to improve, and starting only 10 games for his new team is still a small sample size. But Utah needs Vanecek to elevate his game just as Vejmelka has. The Mammoth don't even need him to start more frequently. This team clearly is comfortable playing Vejmelka as much as possible. However, Vanecek not only needs to get a win soon, but a convincing performance to prove that he can be a reliable backup for this team.
