NHL Team Guide: Vegas Golden Knights
The newest of all NHL expansion franchises, the Vegas Golden Knights were founded in 2017 and began play in the league in 2017-18 season. Vegas had a strong NHL presence after hosting the league’s first-ever outdoor game, a preseason contest between Los Angeles and the New York Rangers. That started what became known as “Frozen Fury” a series of annual preseason games in Las Vegas.
This led to Vegas’s eventual expansion franchise, which participated in the NHL Expansion Draft in 2017. The result helped the Golden Knights become the first expansion team to win a division title in its inaugural season. The Knights won the Western Conference and advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals. They were defeated by the Washington Capitals in five games.
Knights fans can watch Vegas games on TV on NBC and NBCSN when the team is on a national broadcast. The Golden Knights complete NHL schedule is available on TV also. Fans can watch games on FOX Sports West or AT&T SportsNet. Vegas games are also available via live streaming with the FOX Sports GO app or NHL Live.
NHL Standings
The Golden Knights are members of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They will remain there when the NHL expands to 32 teams in 2021-22.
Championship History
Vegas has made the postseason in each of its two seasons of existence. The Golden Knights claim one division championship and one conference championship, both of which were won in 2017-18. After making the Stanley Cup Finals in 2017-18, Vegas lost in the first round of the 2018-19 NHL playoffs to San Jose.
Vegas set a record for postseason wins by an expansion team during their inaugural season. The Golden Knights won 13 playoff games in 2017-18.
Home of the Golden Knights
Vegas plays at the T-Mobile Arena located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The arena opened in 2016 and the Golden Knights began play in 2017. T-Mobile Arena holds 17,500 fans for hockey games.
Best of Golden Knights
Vegas doesn’t have a long history, but they do have some outstanding players. The top four scorers in franchise history – William Karlsson, Jonathan Marchessault, Reilly Smith, and Alex Tuch – are still on the roster.
Karlsson and Marchessault are tied at the top of the all-time scoring list with 134 points. Both were acquired via the expansion draft and both really have advanced their careers in Vegas. Karlsson had 18 career goals before erupting for 43 in 2017-18. He has 67 goals in his two seasons with the Knights.
Marchessault has had his two highest point-scoring seasons in Vegas – 75 in 2017-18 and 59 last year. He has a franchise best 82 assists thus far.
Smith has scored 113 points and Tuch has totaled 89. The Golden Knights also have one of the better goalies in the NHL in Marc-Andre Fleury. After 12 seasons in Pittsburgh, Fleury was acquired by the NHL expansion draft. He was one of the big reasons why the Golden Knights advanced to the Stanley Cup in their first season. Fleury went 29-13-4 during the regular season. He has 64 total wins for Vegas.
Author: Dan Anderson