Bruins Goalie Linus Ullmark Gets Hands On First Vezina Trophy

Boston Bruins goalie Linus Ullmark notched one more win for good measure Monday night.

Ullmark earned the Vezina Trophy at the NHL awards ceremony, beating out Ilya Sorokin of the New York Islanders and Winnipeg Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck to capture the honor as the league’s best goaltender for the 2022-23 season.

Ullmark, who earned 22 first-place votes, becomes the first Bruins goalie to win the award since Tuukka Rask did so in 2014. The 29-year-old Ullmark put together a sensational campaign in his second season with Boston and the best season of his eight-year NHL career. He posted a brilliant 40-6-1 record in the regular season — tying Colorado Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev for most wins — and led the entire NHL with a 1.89 goals-against average and a .938 save percentage.

If what Ullmark did as Boston’s last line of defense wasn’t impressive enough, he also captivated sports fans by scoring a goal in a late February road win over Vancouver Canucks. That was far from Ullmark’s only highlight moment of the season. A few days after scoring his goal, Ullmark stole a win for the Bruins against the Calgary Flames by making a career-high 57 saves.

Ullmark’s stellar and consistent performances allowed the Bruins to rewrite the NHL’s record books as well with Boston setting the single-season mark for most wins (65) and points (135).

Ullmark didn’t get to break out his on-ice celebration after his Vezina Trophy triumph as it sure would have been quite the sight to see him do his patented goalie hug on stage with Jeremy Swayman.