ESPN named Vasilevsky the first to receive the award for the best goalkeeper of the NHL season.

Russian goalkeeper of the Tampa Bay Lightning Andrei Vasilevsky has become the main contender for the Vezina Trophy, awarded to the best goalkeeper of the season in the National Hockey League (NHL). Information about this follows from an ESPN portal survey among league journalists.

Vasilevsky won 59% of the vote. The second place in the top three was taken by another Russian, New York Islanders goalkeeper Ilya Sorokin, with a score of 35%. The third was John Gibson from the Detroit Red Wings.

"The Big Cat is back. He and the Lightning look like a well—fueled car again," said one of the survey participants, explaining his vote for Vasilevsky.

Vasilevsky has played 37 games this season with a 92 percent deflected shot and helped his team to 27 victories. The Tampa Bay Lightning leads the Eastern Conference standings with 78 points after 55 games played. Vasilevsky had previously won the Vezina Trophy in the 18/19 season and was among the top three goalkeepers five times.

In addition, according to ESPN, Tampa forward Nikita Kucherov was among the top three contenders for the Hart Trophy for the most valuable player of the season, and newcomer Ivan Demidov from the Montreal Canadiens was among the top three for the Calder Trophy, which is awarded to the best debutant.

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On February 1, Russian goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky entered the top 10 in NHL history in terms of the number of matches with 90% or more saves in regular championships. Then the Russian blocked 19 shots out of 21 in the game against Winnipeg, increasing the number of matches with 90 percent saves to 470. Thus, he beat Czech athlete Dominik Hasek, who had 469 such matches.

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