Michael Stuart: Andrei Vasilevskiy is Running Away with the Vezina Race

He is the best!
And to think you got him for Kyle Quincy!

All true. I agree he is the front runner. However he is also playing behind one of the best defenses and behind an offense that carries the play. So the Vezina is really a team award.

Look at his opponent today. Lankinen 506 shots on goal in 16 games. The Hawks defense is a sieve and their offense is not a puck possession group. Vasilevskiy 483 shots in 18 games.

http://moneypuck.com/goalies.htm

He is the best goaltender in the league. Its because of him that the Lightning are so good. He allows them to control play and press on offense because they know if they make a mistake and give up an odd man rush he will most likely cover for it. So many people do not give him credit for how good and consistent he actually is, they always say its the team that makes him good but without him the Lightning are no where near as dominant. Watch him play consistently and you will see how good he is and how its his play that leads to the Lightning controlling play.

The fact that Vasi has Schenn, Rutta, and a rookie (Foote) in front of him on most nights says a lot about Vasi's current run. He's in the zone.

Schenn is a pylon, Rutta is a plug, and Foote is a rookie - probably one of the weaker right sides in the league, barring Cernak.

He is the best goaltender in the league. Its because of him that the Lightning are so good. He allows them to control play and press on offense because they know if they make a mistake and give up an odd man rush he will most likely cover for it. So many people do not give him credit for how good and consistent he actually is, they always say its the team that makes him good but without him the Lightning are no where near as dominant. Watch him play consistently and you will see how good he is and how its his play that leads to the Lightning controlling play.
- stammerman

Vasi's puck handling is also underrated. You can tell he learned from Bishop. Vasi is better at breaking the puck out of the zone than Schenn is.