Detroit Red Wings goalie Petr Mrazek (34), of the Czech Republic, makes a save in the first period of an NHL hockey game in New York, Monday, Jan. 25, 2016. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens)

At one point this season, quite recently, the Vezina Trophy race was a sprint to a coronation: Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals goaltender and pupil of that Netminding Yoda Mitch Korn, had the trophy in the bag.

He had the NHL lead in wins. As he did for goals-against average. As he did for save percentage.

As for Feb. 12, he still holds onto one of those leads: Wins, with 35, four more than Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks. That’s 14 more wins than Petr Mrazek of the Detroit Red Wings – Holtby has started 44 games, Mrazek has 34 – but hey would you look at that: The Red Wings goalie leads the NHL in save percentage (.934) and GAA (1.94) heading into Friday night’s game hosting the Colorado Avalanche.*

The current stats picture, via War-on-Ice, at 5-on-5:

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Here’s what they’ve done on the penalty kill:

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The Red Wings have the 19th best penalty kill in the NHL; the Capitals have the fourth. Sometimes a kill works because of the goalie. Sometimes it’s the system and the personnel in front of him.

Which is, essentially, the same argument that can made with all goaltending stats, right?

"One of the requirements to be a real good hockey team is you need to have elite goaltending," Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said, via MLive.com.

"Certainly when somebody has those types of rankings that means you're getting that type of goaltending. … I also think it's a team stat. Goals against and save percentage certainly have to do with how you play defense and how your team defense is. Do you give up lots of back door opportunities? Do you give up lots of second (chances)? Do you give up big-time Grade A (chances) all the time? Do you do a good job keeping pucks to the outside? I think we've done a good job of that and I think Petr's been great."

Well, they’ve done OK with it.

According to War On Ice, Mrazek faces 28.55 shots per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 play. That’s more than Cory Schneider of the New Jersey Devils (26.67) and Holtby (27.75) but less than Roberto Luongo of the Florida Panthers (29.52) and Corey Crawford of the Chicago Blackhawks (29.62).

Here are the goalies ranked by high-quality saves – i.e. ones that are in the slot or the doorstep of the crease – and their high quality save percentage:

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