SAN JOSE – San Jose Sharks goalie Vitek Vanecek was injured in the second period of Tuesday night’s game with the Winnipeg Jets as he was struck in the face by a puck that was unexpectedly redirected into the team’s bench.
Jets defenseman Colin Miller was carrying the puck out of his team’s zone early in the second period when he sent a cross-ice pass intended for defense partner Logan Stanley. Sharks forward William Eklund got his stick on the puck, deflecting it high into the air before Stanley, skating in front of the San Jose bench, tried to knock it down with his stick.
Instead, Stanley accidentally redirected the puck downward right into Vanecek’s face.
Vanecek was quickly tended to by a member of the Sharks’ training staff and was led back into the team’s dressing room. The Sharks announced early in the third period that Vanecek would not be available for the rest of the game.
Longtime Sharks television color analyst Drew Remenda was standing just a few feet away from Vanecek, who was sitting down when the puck hit him. Backup goalies wear their pads, plus their glove and a blocker, while on the bench. But rarely, if ever, do they wear face masks.
“Stanley goes to knock it down and it hit Vitek right in the face, unfortunately,” Remenda said of the puck. “He’s got attention right away by the doctors. That’s brutal.”
The accident happened shortly after Tyler Toffoli scored his 13th goal of the season at the 1:52 mark of the second period to tie the game 1-1. The Sharks would lose to the Jets 4-3.
Vanecek was backing up the team’s newest goaltender, Alexandar Georgiev, who started against the Jets and finished with 29 saves. Backup goalies during Sharks games at SAP Center usually sit a few feet behind the team’s bench at the entranceway to the dressing room.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky did not have an update on Vanecek after the game. The Sharks practice on Wednesday in San Jose and next play Thursday night at home against the Colorado Avalanche.
The 28-year-old Vanecek, in his first full season with the Sharks after he was acquired from the New Jersey Devils in March, is 3-8-1 this season with a .885 save percentage in 14 games. He missed three games in November with an upper-body ailment after he was injured during the Sharks’ Nov. 16 game in Pittsburgh.
If Vanecek has to go on injured reserve, the Sharks would likely recall goalie Yaroslav Askarov from the Barracuda.
Askarov, 22, has played in two games for the Sharks this season and is 1-0-1 with a .927 save percentage. In 14 games with the Barracuda, Askarov, acquired from the Nashville Predators in August and considered the Sharks goalie of the future, is 9-4-1 with three shutouts and a .938 save percentage in 14 games.
The Barracuda are in Palm Desert, where they are scheduled to play the Coachella Valley Firebirds on Wednesday.
