Mammoth's Vitek Vanecek: Falls to Sharks in overtime
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Vanecek allowed three goals on 22 shots in Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Sharks.
Vanecek has lost his last three outings, going 0-2-1 with 11 goals allowed on 65 shots in that span. The 29-year-old netminder is now at a 2-3-1 record with a 2.85 GAA and an .873 save percentage in six starts this season. The Mammoth's tight defense, which is allowing a league-best 23.6 shots per game, has made things easier on the goalies, but Vanecek's performance hasn't been all that good, even with the light workloads. Look for Karel Vejmelka to get the start Thursday at home versus the Golden Knights.
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Mammoth's Vitek Vanecek: Starting in San Jose
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Vanecek will guard the road goal versus the Sharks on Tuesday, Max Miller of NHL.com reports.
Vanecek will get the second half of a back-to-back after Karel Vejmelka took a 3-2 overtime loss versus the Ducks on Monday. Vanecek is in a bit of a rut, having lost his last two outings with a total of eight goals allowed on 43 shots.
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Mammoth's Vitek Vanecek: Yields four goals in loss
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Vanecek stopped 21 of 25 shots in Sunday's 4-2 loss to the Senators.
Vanecek gave up four goals for the second start in a row, and he's faced just 43 shots in total during that span. That's not great play out of the backup goalie, though Karel Vejmelka has also endured some recent struggles as the Mammoth's hot start has cooled. Vanecek is now 2-3-0 with a 2.85 GAA and an .875 save percentage through five starts this season. It will likely be Vejmelka's turn in goal for Wednesday's home game against the Sabres.
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Mammoth's Vitek Vanecek: Starting in Ottawa
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Vanecek will tend the road twine Sunday versus the Senators, according to Catherine Bogart of Utah's official site.
After starting the year 2-1-0 while allowing just two goals in each of his first three appearances, Vanecek stumbled in his last start, conceding four goals on 18 shots in Wednesday's 5-3 loss to Toronto. The Mammoth and Senators both played Saturday -- Utah lost 6-2 to Montreal, while Ottawa defeated Philadelphia in overtime by a score of 3-2. Vanecek is 1-1-0 with an .878 save percentage and a 3.18 GAA over three career outings against the Sens.
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Mammoth's Vitek Vanecek: Buried by Leafs
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Vanecek stopped 14 of 18 shots in Wednesday's 5-3 loss to Toronto, with the Maple Leafs' final goal getting scored into an empty net.
The veteran netminder held the home squad off the scoreboard in the first period, but the floodgates cracked open in the second after William Nylander slotted home a rebound just under five minutes into the frame. It's the first time in four starts Vanecek has allowed more than two goals, and he has a 2-2-0 record, 2.52 GAA and .885 save percentage on the season.
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Mammoth's Vitek Vanecek: Starting in Toronto
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Vanecek will guard the road goal versus the Maple Leafs on Wednesday, Catherine Bogart of Utah's official site reports.
Vanecek will handle the second half of a back-to-back after Karel Vejmelka guided the Mammoth to a 2-1 overtime win over the Sabres on Tuesday. Vanecek has gone 2-1-0 with six goals allowed on 69 shots over his first three outings with Utah. The Maple Leafs have averaged 3.62 goals per game, but they've also given up just as many, so this could be a high-event game.
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Mammoth's Vitek Vanecek: Drawing start against Winnipeg
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Vanecek will start Sunday's road game against Winnipeg, Ken Wiebe of The Winnipeg Free Press reports.
Vanecek will draw his third start of the season Sunday as the Mammoth play the second half of a back-to-back set. Over his previous two starts, he's gone 1-1-0 with a 2.00 GAA and .897 save percentage.
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Mammoth's Vitek Vanecek: Earns first win of season
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Vanecek stopped 24 of 26 shots in Sunday's 3-2 win over the Bruins.
Vanacek didn't have his best stuff in his first outing of the season, when he stopped 11 of 13 shots against the Blackhawks in a 3-1 loss on Oct. 13, but he bounced back admirably here. As good as he looked in this outing, his fantasy upside shouldn't be very high as long as he remains firmly entrenched in a backup role behind Karel Vejmelka.
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Mammoth's Vitek Vanecek: Drawing start Sunday
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Vanecek will start at home against the Bruins on Sunday, Cole Bagley of KSL Sports reports.
Vanecek will make his second start of the season and will face a Boston team that has lost three consecutive matchups after beginning the year on a three-game winning streak. Vanecek's season debut came in Chicago on Oct. 13, and he allowed two goals on 13 shots (.846 save percentage) in a 3-1 loss.
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Mammoth's Vitek Vanecek: Allows two goals Monday
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Vanecek stopped 11 of 13 shots in Monday's 3-1 loss to the Blackhawks. The third goal was an empty-netter with six seconds left in the game.
Vanecek made his first start of the season Monday, but his performance was far from encouraging. Even though he didn't have a lot of work, the 29-year-old netminder still allowed two goals and was tagged with the loss as a result in what was another low-scoring contest. Vanecek should return to his regular backup role when the Mammoth take on the Flames on Wednesday.
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Mammoth's Vitek Vanecek: Leaves ice first
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Vanecek was the first goalie off the ice Monday, Cole Bagley of KSL Sports reports, indicating he'll get the road start against Chicago.
Vanecek will make his season debut after watching Karel Vejmelka play in the first two games of the year. In 25 regular-season games played between the Sharks and Panthers last year, the 29-year-old Vanecek went 5-14-4 with an .884 save percentage and 3.62 GAA. Now with Utah, Vancek should see a similar workload this year as the No. 2 option behind Vejmelka.
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Mammoth's Vitek Vanecek: In goal versus Kings
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Vanecek will protect the home goal versus the Kings in Thursday's preseason game, Brogan Houston of Deseret News Sports reports.
Vanecek will likely be getting his final look in the preseason. The 29-year-old is set to fill the backup role for 2025-26 behind Karel Vejmelka. Vanecek has allowed five goals on 35 shots in his first two preseason contests.
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Mammoth's Vitek Vanecek: Locks in with Utah
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Vanecek signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with the Mammoth on Tuesday, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Vanecek spent parts of last season with both the Sharks and the Panthers, playing 25 regular-season games in the NHL between the two, but he didn't have a save percentage above .900 for either team. The 29-year-old joins an already established goaltending duo in Karel Vejmelka and Connor Ingram to compete for playing time with, so don't be surprised if he begins this coming season in the minor leagues.
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Panthers' Vitek Vanecek: Loses last game of season
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Vitacek made 26 saves in a 5-1 loss to Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
Tampa Bay secured the No. 2 seed in the Atlantic Division and home-ice advantage with the win. This was Florida's last game of the season, and it will be Vanecek's last action of this year unless he's forced into relief. It's Sergei Bobrovsky all the way from this point forward. Vanecek's results in Florida (2-4-1; 3.00 GAA and .890 save percentage) were no better than what he showed in San Jose (3-10-3; 3.88 GAA and .882 save percentage). He becomes an unrestricted free agent this summer; he will get a contract as a backup netminder from some team. Nothing more.
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Panthers' Vitek Vanecek: Nabs first win in April
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Vanecek turned aside 26 shots in regulation and overtime and all three shootout attempts he faced in Saturday's 3-2 win over the Sabres.
It was the first win for the 29-year-old netminder in over a month and just his second since being acquired by the Panthers to back up Sergei Bobrovsky. Vanecek has gone 2-3-1 with a 2.66 GAA and .900 save percentage in six outings for his new squad, and he'll likely make one more regular-season appearance with Florida facing a back-to-back to wrap up its schedule, Monday versus the Rangers and Tuesday against the Lightning in a game that could have playoff seeding implications.
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Panthers' Vitek Vanecek: Slated to start Saturday
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Vanecek is expected to be between the home pipes versus Buffalo on Saturday, according to Colby Guy of The Palm Beach Post.
Vanecek shut out the Sabres on March 8, the last time the two teams met, turning aside 21 shots. The win has been the only one for Vanecek in a Florida uniform, as he is 1-3-1 since being acquired from San Jose. The Sabres rank seventh in the league with 3.26 goals per contest in 2024-25.
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Panthers' Vitek Vanecek: Extends losing streak
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Vanecek stopped 22 of 24 shots in Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Red Wings.
Vanecek returned to the Panthers' crease after not playing in the team's previous two games, but he was tagged with yet another loss -- he's now dropped each of his last four starts while allowing at least three goals in three of those contests. Over that four-game stretch, the 29-year-old has gone 0-3-1 with a 3.56 GAA and an .874 save percentage, so he's far from being a reliable fantasy option in most formats.
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Panthers' Vitek Vanecek: Starting in Detroit
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Vanecek will guard the road goal versus the Red Wings on Sunday, according to Doug Plagens of the Panthers Radio Network.
Vanecek will get the second half of Florida's back-to-back after Sergei Bobrovsky played in Saturday's 3-0 loss to Ottawa. The 29-year-old Vanecek has allowed 12 goals on 87 shots during his three-game losing skid (0-2-1). He has gone 4-12-4 with one shutout, a 3.72 GAA and an .883 save percentage across 22 appearances between Florida and San Jose this season. Detroit is tied for 21st in the league with 2.84 goals per game in 2024-25.
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Panthers' Vitek Vanecek: Falls to Habs
Rotowire
Vanecek made 18 saves in Tuesday's 3-2 overtime loss to the Canadiens.
The Panthers held a 2-1 lead heading into the third period, but Vanecek couldn't make it stick as Nick Suzuki scored two goals 38 seconds apart -- the first with nine seconds left in regulation, and then the winner 29 seconds into OT. After winning his first start for Florida, Vanecek has dropped his last three decisions, going 0-2-1 with a 4.04 GAA and .862 save percentage. The Panthers are all but locked into a playoff spot but are fighting for first place in the Atlantic Division with the Maple Leafs and Lightning, so how much they prioritize that seeding could determine how often Vanecek gets used to spell Sergei Bobrovsky down the stretch.
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Panthers' Vitek Vanecek: Set to start Saturday
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Vanecek is expected to start on the road against Washington on Saturday, per Doug Plagens of the Panthers Radio Network.
Vanecek has a 4-11-3 record, 3.64 GAA and .888 save percentage between San Jose and Florida this season. He's appeared in two games with the Panthers since being traded March 5, posting a 1-1-0 record, 1.53 GAA and .944 save percentage over that stretch. The Capitals own a 46-15-8 record and a league-leading 3.62 goals per game, making the team a challenging adversary.
