Ovechkin, Vasilevskiy and Kucherov Lead Russian Storylines as NHL Season Opens
Kommersant picks the NHL's top storylines: Ovechkin's Capitals as contenders, Hellebuyck's Winnipeg standoff, Marchand's injury and rising $10m contracts.
Ice Hockey team
Vegas Golden Knights
Club · United States · NHL
«Knights»
599
Matches
343
wins
256
losses
1954–1666
Goals
+288
Difference
3.3
Scored per game
Form
W
5 Oct · Away Vancouver Canucks · 3:2
W
7 Oct · Away Seattle Kraken · 6:2
W
9 Oct · Home Toronto Maple Leafs · 4:3
W
11 Oct · Home Los Angeles Kings · 2:1
L
13 Oct · Away Minnesota Wild · 2:4
W
14 Oct · Away Nashville Predators · 5:2
When the NHL's Board of Governors let expansion clubs stock a roster in 2017, the usual outcome was a team built to lose while it found its feet. Vegas did not play along. General manager George McPhee worked the draft board so shrewdly that the roster he assembled earned a nickname of its own, the "Golden Misfits," and within a season they were in the Stanley Cup Final, the first modern-era expansion team to top its division in its debut year. Washington beat them there in 2018, but the run set the tone for everything after.
Marc-André Fleury, plucked from Pittsburgh in that same expansion draft, gave the new club a goaltender who already knew how to win, and he anchored the crease through those early seasons on the ice at T-Mobile Arena, just off the Strip. William Karlsson turned into a Lady Byng winner, Mark Stone grew into the captaincy and picked up two Selke Trophies for his defensive play, and the trade for Jack Eichel in 2021 added the scoring the roster still lacked.
It paid off in 2023, when Vegas beat the Florida Panthers in five games to win the Stanley Cup, with Jonathan Marchessault taking the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff most valuable player. Six seasons from expansion to championship made them the fastest team in NHL history to do it. They were back in the Final again in 2025–26, this time losing to Carolina, with the road there running once more through the Pacific Division, where their sharpest rivalry is with the Los Angeles Kings, a series known on the ice as "The Royal Rumble." None of it was supposed to happen this fast for a club stitched together from other teams' castoffs.
Latest results
Fixtures and results| 14 Oct | NHL |
Nashville Predators
A
|
5:2 | W |
| 13 Oct | NHL |
Minnesota Wild
A
|
2:4 | L |
| 11 Oct | NHL |
Los Angeles Kings
H
|
2:1 | W |
| 9 Oct | NHL |
Toronto Maple Leafs
H
|
4:3 | W |
| 7 Oct | NHL |
Seattle Kraken
A
|
6:2 | W |
| 5 Oct | NHL |
Vancouver Canucks
A
|
3:2 | W |
Standing
NHLGroup stage · Pacific Division
| # | Team | M | W | L | Goals | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 |
 Edmonton Oilers
|
6 | 5 | 1 | 29:18 | 0 |
| 3 |
Seattle Kraken
|
7 | 5 | 2 | 29:19 | 0 |
| 3 |
 Vegas Golden Knights
|
4 | 3 | 1 | 13:11 | 0 |
| 5 |
 San Jose Sharks
|
6 | 3 | 3 | 16:23 | 0 |
| 7 |
Los Angeles Kings
|
5 | 0 | 5 | 11:21 | 0 |
| 7 |
Vancouver Canucks
|
4 | 1 | 3 | 8:12 | 0 |
| 8 |
 Calgary Flames
|
6 | 1 | 5 | 12:29 | 0 |
| 8 |
 Anaheim Ducks
|
4 | 1 | 3 | 9:20 | 0 |
Team statistics
matches counted in total: 599
599
Matches
343
wins
256
losses
1954–1666
Goals
+288
Difference
3.3
Scored per game
wins
losses
scored — above the line
conceded — below the line
| Metric | Total | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matches | 599 | 306 | 293 |
| Scored | 1954 | 1030 | 924 |
| Conceded | 1666 | 824 | 842 |
| Scored per game | 3.3 | 3.4 | 3.2 |
| Conceded per game | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.9 |
| Difference | +288 | +206 | +82 |
Fixtures of Vegas Golden Knights
-
16 Oct · 03:00
Calgary Flames
H
NHL
-
18 Oct · 03:00
Pittsburgh Penguins
H
NHL
-
21 Oct · 03:30
Tampa Bay Lightning
H
NHL
-
23 Oct · 01:00
St. Louis Blues
A
NHL
-
25 Oct · 00:00
Columbus Blue Jackets
A
NHL
-
28 Oct · 02:00
Ottawa Senators
H
NHL
-
30 Oct · 22:00
New Jersey Devils
H
NHL
-
3 Nov · 00:00
Boston Bruins
A
NHL
-
14 Oct
Nashville Predators
A
5:2
W
-
13 Oct
Minnesota Wild
A
2:4
L
-
11 Oct
Los Angeles Kings
H
2:1
W
-
9 Oct
Toronto Maple Leafs
H
4:3
W
-
7 Oct
Seattle Kraken
A
6:2
W
-
5 Oct
Vancouver Canucks
A
3:2
W
-
3 Oct
Anaheim Ducks
H
3:4
L
-
30 Sep
Chicago Blackhawks
H
5:2
W
Honours of Vegas Golden Knights
- Pacific Division 2018, 2020, 2023, 2025, 2026 5
- Stanley Cup 2023 1
- Stanley Cup Final 2018, 2026 2