Karel Vejmelka #70 of the Utah Mammoth looks on during the second period against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on October 06, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – While the Utah Mammoth have successfully picked up points over their last two games despite a long list of injuries, their loss to the San Jose Sharks on Saturday night exposed a serious concern between the pipes.
As Karel Vejmelka continues to struggle, Utah Mammoth head coach Andre Tourigny has called upon his goaltender to find answers in the crease before these disappointing results become a dangerous trend.
Saturday night brought another disappointing result for the Utah Mammoth.
Despite scoring five goals, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead, limiting San Jose to just 21 shots and getting a two-goal performance from defenseman Zac Jones in only his second game with the organization, Utah fell 6-5 to the Sharks in a shootout.
How does that happen?
While goaltender Karel Vejmelka shouldn’t shoulder all the blame, head coach Andre Tourigny made it clear that he needs to be better and do his job.
“He’s in a tough situation,” Tourigny explained. “I feel bad for him. But that’s on the personal side. On the business side, he has a job to do. He needs to do it. Now more than ever. Today, we scored five goals, we give up 21 shots. That’s good enough in the NHL to win a hockey game. It’s more than good enough.”
“There’s a business side of it and we need to get down to business…we’re second in the league for expected goal against. You know where we are in goal against…I want us to support him, help him, be with him. But there’s a business to be done and we need him big time.”
To be fair to Vejmelka, hockey is a team sport. There are five other skaters on the ice, and the responsibility for a loss doesn’t fall on one player alone.
However, there’s no getting around the numbers. Surrendering five goals on just 21 shots for a .762 save percentage simply isn’t good enough at the NHL level.
Just how we drew it up. 🤩
#TurnItAllTeal https://t.co/vtMPa8Fzo1
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) November 15, 2026
Eric Pohlkamp gets his first @NHL goal! 🤩
#TurnItAllTeal https://t.co/9SaWf7tIqA
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) November 15, 2026
What a shot! 👏
#TurnItAllTeal https://t.co/Q5AlDK4D7h
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) November 15, 2026
Utah did more than enough offensively to win this game. It needed more from its goaltending, and Tourigny knows it.
“We generated a lot of offense,” Tourigny added. “We almost doubled them in scoring chances. Obviously, Veg has to be better. Don’t want to say that about any of our player but it just is the way it is.”
“Your most important player on the PK is your goalie. Your most important player in your defensive system is your goalie. You have good goaltending, it corrects the mistakes.”
Right now, Utah needs more from everyone on the ice.
It needs stronger leadership from its captains, more physicality from its third line, more production from its top six and better defensive play from everyone on the backend.
But above all else, Utah needs more from its goaltenders, particularly Karel Vejmelka.
As the more experienced netminder who recently signed a five-year, $23.75 million contract, Vejmelka has to find a higher level of play.
Until then, Utah may need to implement a competition until one of its goaltenders can establish some consistency.
Play well, and the net is yours until proven otherwise.
If not, there may reach a point in the near future where the team also has to consider external solutions.
Now, on a more positive note, the Mammoth still managed to earn a point for the second consecutive game despite being without Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, Nick Schmaltz, John Marino and Nate Schmidt.
That said, they played well enough to deserve the second point.
The Utah Mammoth will continue their five-game homestand against the Vancouver Canucks on Monday night at 7:30 p.m. MST.
The game will be available on SEG+.
All Mammoth games will also be broadcast live on the KSL Sports Zone (97.5 FM/1280 AM).
Cole Bagley is the Utah Mammoth insider for KSL Sports. Follow him on X. You can hear Cole break down the team on KSL Sports Zone and KSL 5 TV.
