Vitek Vanecek was named the Utah Mammoth’s starting goaltender for the team’s game against the Washington Capitals on Thursday night.
The start will be Vanecek’s first against the Capitals since joining the Mammoth in free agency last July. Since departing the Capitals after the 2021-22 campaign, Vanecek has made five total appearances against his former team, and in those games, he has yet to be scored on by the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer, Alex Ovechkin.
In fact, among all active goalies currently on NHL rosters, Vanecek has made the most saves on Ovechkin without allowing him to light the lamp. He is also one of only two active goalies, the other being Golden Knights backstop Akira Schmid, to have faced off against Ovechkin five times without being beaten by the Capitals captain.
Active NHL goalies who have faced an Ovechkin shot and never surrendered a goal
| Goalie | Games played | Ovechkin shots saved |
|---|---|---|
| Vitek Vanecek | 5 | 19 |
| Kevin Lankinen | 4 | 16 |
| Joey Daccord | 4 | 14 |
| Akira Schmid | 5 | 11 |
| Joel Hofer | 4 | 11 |
| Devin Cooley | 2 | 7 |
| Lukas Dostal | 2 | 4 |
| Anthony Stolarz | 1 | 4 |
| Jonas Johansson | 1 | 4 |
| Brandon Bussi | 1 | 3 |
| Arvid Soderblom | 1 | 2 |
| Arturs Silovs | 1 | 2 |
There are only 12 active NHL goalies on the list and 32 total in Ovechkin’s career that have faced a shot from him and not allowed a goal. The 20 netminders not currently on NHL rosters are either retired, unofficially retired, playing overseas, or playing in the AHL or ECHL.
Overall, in his five career games against the Capitals, Vanecek is 1-2-0 with a 3.83 goals-against average and a .875 save percentage. His only win against the Caps came on November 26, 2022, a 37-save performance while he was with the New Jersey Devils.
Ovechkin has scored against an NHL record 188 different goalies during his 21-season career. He has added to that list four times this season, scoring against Jakub Dobeš, Eric Comrie, Drew Commesso, and Justus Annunen.
Coming into Thursday night, Ovechkin has two goals in his last four games. In his career against the Mammoth, he has scored twice and recorded five total points in three games. The last time he and the Capitals were in Utah at the Delta Center, Ovechkin scored two goals before breaking his leg in a third-period collision with Jack McBain.
