It wasn’t Karel Vejmelka’s best performance on Wednesday night as he gave up four goals including two shorthanded in the Arizona Coyotes game against the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night which led to him being pulled in favor of Connor Ingram midway through the contest. Did last night’s performance put an end to Vejmelka’s time as the part time starting goaltender? Through the first 19 games of the season, coach André Tourigny has decided to split time equally between his two goaltenders, Vejmelka starting 11 games and Ingram starting 10. However, as of late that strategy has not been the most effective largely due to the struggles of Vejmelka and the disparity between the two goalies. Vejmelka has failed to win a game in over one month as he has lost his past seven matchups. In contrast, Ingram was on a hot streak winning six games in a row before Monday night. André Tourigny spoke following the Coyotes 6-5 loss to the Blues. Ingram also edges Vejmelka in GAA (2.94-3.45) and in SV% (.910-.892). With the Coyotes on a three game losing streak and really facing adversity for the first time this season, is it finally time to make Ingram the starter? Following the Coyotes Wednesday night loss, Tourigny did not say anything that may lead fans to believe they will go in a different direction regarding their goaltending strategy. However if Arizona does want to get out of this rut, it may be a smart idea to ride with the hot goalie which is Ingram. This may not be the case the whole year however. Goaltenders go through ups and downs over the course of a season and maybe in a few months Vejmelka will be the better goalie and he will take over most of the workload. For right now though, Ingram has clearly been performing at a higher level compared to Vejmelka, so Tourigny wil have a lot to think about on whether it is indeed time to abandon this goaltending strategy.
