It's not only his equipment to be sure, but it sure helps. Yes, he plays well positionally, but with bigger gear, it makes it easier to cut angles without getting out of the net, hence being sound positionally. And when he won the Conn Smyth, he didn't have that much talent on D. He's an easy target because his gear is the biggest in the league.
And I have a hard time recalling a slew of goalies going down from taking a hard slapshot to the chest. I remember a bunch of groin injuries...