Vasilevskiy of Lightning wins Vezina Trophy

LAS VEGAS -- Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL at the 2019 NHL Awards presented by Bridgestone on Wednesday.

Vasilevskiy won 18 of his final 21 starts and helped the Lightning tie the NHL record for wins in a season (62) and win the Presidents' Trophy with 128 points. He led the NHL with 39 wins, tied for fourth with six shutouts, and had a 2.40 goals-against average and .925 save percentage in 53 games.

"This award's not just mine," Vasilevskiy said. "It goes to our team, for sure, all the guys working extremely hard. Once again, I want to thank my teammates. Thank you for everything, guys."

He went 30-7-3 after returning from a foot injury Dec. 13, including 10 straight wins from Feb. 9-March 5.

"I always thought 'Vasy' is the best goalie and finally he got recognition by the others, he got rewarded, and I'm really happy for him," said Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP. "It's really nice to see a goalie like this on our team. I wouldn't want to play against Vasilevskiy."

RELATED: NHL Awards results

Vasilevskiy is the first Lightning goalie to win the Vezina, which is voted on by the 31 NHL general managers. He finished third last season.

"My main goal is still the Stanley Cup. Of course, the Vezina, it's good too," Vasilevskiy said. "I'm very happy to get it. But my main goal is the Stanley Cup, for sure."

The other finalists were Robin Lehner of the New York Islanders and Ben Bishop of the Dallas Stars.

Lehner (25-13-5) ranked second in GAA (2.13) and save percentage (.930) among goalies with at least 10 games played, and had six shutouts.

Bishop (27-15-2) led the NHL with a .934 save percentage and was second in GAA (1.98) and third in shutouts (seven).

"I think Robin and Ben, they've done an amazing job this season, so I think they both deserve this award," Vasilevskiy said.

2018-19 Vezina Trophy Voting
Points (1st-2nd-3rd)
1. Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL 146 (28-2-0)
2. Ben Bishop, DAL 64 (2-16-6)
3. Robin Lehner, NYI 17 (0-3-8)
4. Marc-Andre Fleury, VGK 11 (1-1-3)
t-5. Jordan Binnington, STL 9 (0-2-3)
t-5. Darcy Kuemper, ARI 9 (0-2-3)
t-7. Carey Price, MTL 8 (0-2-2)
t-7. Pekka Rinne, NSH 8 (0-2-2)
9. Sergei Bobrovsky, CBJ 4 (0-1-1)
t-10. Frederik Andersen, TOR 1 (0-0-1)
t-10. John Gibson, ANA 1 (0-0-1)
t-10. Jacob Markstrom, VAN 1 (0-0-1)