Rask finished the season 26-8-6 and, along with Jaroslav Halak, helped the Boston Bruins win the Jennings Trophy for allowing the fewest goals (167) in the NHL. He led the League with a 2.12 GAA, tied for second with five shutouts and was second in save percentage (.929) among goalies who played at least 20 games. He allowed two or fewer goals in 27 of 41 games and began the season with a 20-game point streak on home ice (14-0-6). Rask won the Vezina Trophy in 2013-14.
"As the years go by, you kind of learn different things about your game, about yourself and what you need to do," Rask said. "It's just a balance of keeping your mind and body in sync and trying to improve your game every day and every year and before you know it, 10 years go by and you start to look back."
Rask was 1-3-0 with a 2.57 GAA and .904 save percentage before opting out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs on Aug. 15. The Bruins were eliminated from the Eastern Conference Second Round in five games by the Tampa Bay Lightning after winning the Presidents' Trophy given to the team with the best regular-season record (44-14-12, .714).
Vasilevskiy (35-14-3) led the NHL in wins for the third straight season and had a 21-game point streak (19-0-2) from Dec. 17 to Feb. 15. He had a 2.56 GAA, .917 save percentage and three shutouts for the Lightning (43-21-6), who won at least 10 games in a row twice this season.He's 14-6-0 with a 1.88 GAA and .929 save percentage entering Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Dallas Stars at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Monday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS). Tampa Bay trails the best-of-7 series 1-0.
"I think the guys will agree on this that you cannot be a good goalie without a great team," Vasilevskiy said. "It's very tough especially in the NHL. There's too many good players out there trying to score on you. … The whole team deserves the award."
Vasilevskiy won the Vezina last season and is a finalist for the third straight year. He could become the first to win it in consecutive seasons since Martin Brodeur did so with the New Jersey Devils in 2006-07 and 2007-08.
"I don't have statistics on this but to be nominated for any award three times [in a row] just goes to show how your team has performed at such a high level for a long time," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "But at his age (25) it's pretty remarkable. It's no secret he's been a backbone for us even since he got to our team. It's an honor for him to be recognized three years in a row. I don't want to sit here and say he's exceeded our expectations because we were hoping he'd be like this."
The 2020 NHL Awards were scheduled for June 18 in Las Vegas but were postponed March 25.
NHL.com staff writer Tim Campbell and independent correspondent Corey Long contributed to this report