Bruins goalie Tuukka Rask had a wonderful year. However, it wasn’t quite good enough for him to win goaltending’s biggest prize. In fact, it wasn’t even enough to get him nominated.
The NHL announced its three finalists for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the league’s best goaltender, on Wednesday. Rask was not one of the finalists. The three finalists are New York’s Henrik Lundqvist, San Jose’s Antti Niemi and Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky.
Rask’s numbers were certainly good enough to make a case. He went 19-10-5 with a 2.00 goals against average and a .929 save percentage. The Boston goalie also tied for the league lead in shutouts.
Where Rask likely fell short, though, was in games played. Lundqvist and Niemi were tied for second in the league in starts with 43, while Borbrovsky made 38 starts. Rask “only” started 36.
