NY Islanders G Ilya Sorokin finishes 2nd to Linus Ullmark in Vezina voting

New York Islanders goaltender Ilya Sorokin finished second in Vezina Trophy voting to winner Linus Ullmark of the Boston Bruins at the NHL Awards ceremony on Monday night. Sorokin received three first place votes, 17 second place votes and four third place votes for a total of 70 points (5 points are allocated for first place, 3 for second and 1 for third). Fellow finalist, Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets finished third with 32 points.

Sorokin finished sixth in voting after the 2021-22 season. In 2022-23, he appeared in a career-high 62 games this season, posting a solid 31-22-7 record as the team's workhorse down the stretch of the season as the Ises clinched a playoff berth in their final regular season game of the season. In doing so, he became only the fifth goaltender in team history to win 30 games in a season and the first since Jaroslav Halak won a club-record 38 in 2014-15.

The 27-year-old Sorokin finished sixth in the league with a 2.34 goals against average (GAA) and was third with a .924 save percentage. He also had a league-best six shutouts after recording seven the previous season. Sorokin already has 16 shutouts for his career, third most in team history behind only Billy Smith (22) and Glenn 'Chico' Resch (25).

Ullmark, the strong favorite heading into the night, was runaway winner, collecting 22 of 32 possible first place votes. Ullmark was tied for first in the NHL in wins (40) and led the league in GAA (1.89) and save percentage (.938) as the Bruins whose set an NHL record for points in the regular season.

Hall-of-Famer Billy Smith remains the only Islanders goaltender to win the Vezina when he captured in after the 1981-82 season. Sorokin was the team's first finalist since Robin Lehner in 2019.