Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets won the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL on Monday.
"This is a huge moment in my life," Hellebuyck said. "I'd like to congratulate my teammates. Without a good team, none of this is possible. I'd also like to congratulate my coach (Paul Maurice) and the organization for believing in me the entire way.
"And most importantly, I'd like to thank my family and my mom and dad for helping me through the years and taking me to all the countless practices, waking up early and really believing in my and putting the time into my game."
Hellebuyck finished second in the NHL in wins (31), first in shutouts (six) and seventh in save percentage (.922) among goalies to play at least 20 games. He was 31-21-5 with a 2.57 goals-against average and allowed two or fewer goals in 32 of his 58 games to help the Jets (37-28-6, .563 points percentage) advance to the Stanley Cup Qualifiers, when they lost a best-of-5 series to the Calgary Flames in four games.
Hellebuyck led NHL goalies in shots faced (1,796) and saves (1,656), and he was tied for first in games with Carey Price of the Montreal Canadiens. Hellebuyck, who was the runner-up for the Vezina in 2017-18, is the first goalie in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history to win the award.
"In a season like we were having, it's more of if you get the flow, play the guy who's hot," Hellebuyck said. "We have a great other goalie in [Laurent] Brossoit with us, so being able to kind of give and take and when I needed a night off, he was right there playing well. I got hot and we rode me a little bit."
During the regular season, Hellebuyck faced at least 37 shots in 13 games and was 10-1-2 with a 2.08 GAA and .949 save percentage in those games. He made an NHL career-high 51 saves in a 3-2 win at the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 1, when he set the Jets/Thrashers record for saves in a period with 27 in the second.
Hellebuyck finished with 123 points, including 19 first-place votes, in voting for the award by NHL general managers before the postseason began.
Tuukka Rask of the Boston Bruins and Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning were the other finalists. Rask finished second with 99 points (10 first-place votes), and Vasilevskiy had 31 points (one first-place vote).
Rask finished 26-8-6 and ranked first in GAA (2.12) and second in save percentage (.929) among goalies with at least 20 games, and he was tied for second with five shutouts with Elvis Merzlikins of the Columbus Blue Jackets and Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights. Rask helped the Bruins win the Presidents' Trophy for having the best record in the League (44-14-12, .714) and shared the William M. Jennings Trophy with backup Jaroslav Halak for Boston allowing the fewest goals in the NHL (167).
Vasilevskiy, who won the award last season, led the NHL in wins for the third straight season (35-14-3) and had a 2.56 GAA, a .917 save percentage and three shutouts. He had a 21-game point streak (19-0-2) from Dec. 17-Feb. 15 and helped Tampa Bay win at least 10 straight games twice this season.
The 2020 NHL Awards had been scheduled for June 18 in Las Vegas but were postponed March 25 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus.
2020 Vezina Trophy voting (1st-2nd-3rd)
1. Connor Hellebuyck, WPG 123 (19-9-1)
2. Tuukka Rask, BOS 99 (10-15-4)
3. Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL 31 (1-3-17)
4. Jacob Markstrom, VAN 7 (0-1-4)
5. Elvis Merzlikins, CBJ 4 (0-1-1)
6. Robin Lehner, VGK/CHI 3 (0-1-0)
7. Jordan Binnington, STL 1 (0-0-1)
Tristan Jarry, PIT 1 (0-0-1)
Darcy Kuemper, ARI 1 (0-0-1)
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