Jacob Markstrom of the Calgary Flames, Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators and Igor Shesterkin of the New York Rangers were the finalists for the Vezina Trophy, which was awarded to the top goaltender.
The National Hockey League made the announcement in a press release on Tuesday, following a poll conducted on general managers.
All three goalies were finalists for the first time. This was the first since 2014. Ben Bishop (Tampa Bay), Tuukka Rask (Boston) and Semyon Varlamov (Colorado) were candidates then.
This scenario has only happened once in the past 32 years. It was in 2009, when the finalists were Niklas Backstrom (Minnesota), Steve Mason (Columbus) and Tim Thomas (Boston).
Markstrom (37-15-9, 2.22 goal-against average and .922 save percentage) led the NHL with 9 shutouts in 63 games. Before the start of the season, he made 8 shutouts in 315 games.
Saros (38-25-3, 2.64, .918) became No. 1 goaltender for the Predators following the retirement of Pekka Rinne. He won by collecting 38 of his team’s 45 wins as well as 4 shutouts. He led the league in games played (67) and time on the ice (3,921: 23).
As for Shesterkin (36-13-4, 2.07, .935), he finished first in the NHL in goals against average and save percentage. He also recorded six shutouts.
On Wednesday, the NHL will announce the finalists for the Calder Trophy, awarded to rookie par excellence.
Source: Radio-Canada
