With the NHL season coming to its final stretch, there is no more important position right now then goaltending as teams vie for playoff positioning over the next month and a half.
Though the Vezina Trophy won't be given out to the league's best goalie for quite some time, it is always nice to look at which netminders are separating themselves from the pack and who will backstop their way to some hardware come the end of the season.
Here are the Sports World News Top 3 likely candidates to win the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's greatest goaltender for the 2014-15 campaign. All three of these goalies will look to win the award for the first time.
3) Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals: While he's got some stiff competition and there are several goalies deserving of consideration, Holtby is a big reason why the Capitals are jockeying for playoff positioning atop the Metropolitan Division.
Holtby, 25, has helped the Capitals to a to a 28-16-10 record (66 points) this season, and though they are in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division entering Wednesday, they hold the top wild-card position in the Eastern Conference.
The Capitals are one point behind the New York Rangers for the third and final automatic playoff spot in the Metropolitan Division and three points clear of the Boston Bruins as the top wild-card team, thanks in large part to Holtby.
Holtby is 25-11-9 this season while ranking fourth in goals-against average (2.14) and save percentage (.925, tied) and he's tied for second in the NHL with six shutouts.
2) Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators: Despite missing several games with an injury, Rinne is a driving force for Nashville as the Preds' last line of defense and paces the NHL with 31 wins.
Rinne, 32, has been the key to the Predators enjoying a tremendous season that has seen them storm to a 36-12-6 record for an NHL-best 78 points.
On top of leading the league in victories, Rinne is second in the NHL with a 2.01 goals-against average and a .929 save percentage.
To put the Predators' season into perspective, they have 10 less points at this point in the season than they accumulated in the entire 2013-14 campaign.
Nashville is the current favorite to win the Presidents' Trophy and Rinne is a huge part of that.
1) Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens: Not only is the Habs netminder the odds on favorite to win the Vezina Trophy, but he could potentially take home hardware as the league's MVP with the Hart Trophy.
Price, 27, has thrived in net for the Canadiens this year, helping backstop the team to a 35-15-3 record (73 points) and putting up ridiculous numbers.
The Montreal netminder will be key going forward as the team wrestles with the explosive Tampa Bay Lightning (34-16-6, 74 points) and rejuvenated Detroit Red Wings (31-12-9, 71 points) for supremacy in the Atlantic Division.
Price leads the entire NHL with a stingy 2.00 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage while he trails only Rinne in wins with 30.
As the Canadiens look to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals, Price will have a huge hand in it.
Each of these three goalies have a great chance of taking home the Vezina Trophy, but for now they will focus on helping their teams accomplish their dreams of hoisting the Stanley Cup come June.
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