2018–19 Vegas Golden Knights season

The 2018–19 Vegas Golden Knights season was the second season for the National Hockey League franchise that started playing in the 2017–18 season.

2018–19 Vegas Golden Knights
Division	3rd Pacific
Conference	7th Western
2018–19 record	43–32–7
Home record	24–12–5
Road record	19–20–2
Goals for	249
Goals against	230
Team information
General manager	George McPhee
Coach	Gerard Gallant
Captain	Vacant
Alternate captains	Pierre-Edouard Bellemare Deryk Engelland Max Pacioretty Reilly Smith
Arena	T-Mobile Arena
Average attendance	18,318[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)	Chicago Wolves (AHL) Fort Wayne Komets (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Jonathan Marchessault (25)
Assists	Jonathan Marchessault Reilly Smith (34)
Points	Jonathan Marchessault (59)
Penalty minutes	Ryan Reaves (74)
Plus/minus	Nate Schmidt (+22)
Wins	Marc-Andre Fleury (35)
Goals against average	Marc-Andre Fleury (2.51)
← 2017–18 2019–20 →

The Golden Knights bolstered their lineup during the offseason with the signing of Paul Stastny, as well as the acquisition former Montreal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty. They also acquired goal-scoring forward Mark Stone from the Ottawa Senators at the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline, and subsequently signed him to an 8-year contract extension.^[2]

Prior to the season, the NHL suspended defenseman Nate Schmidt for 20 regular season games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program.^[3][4] On March 29, 2019, the Golden Knights clinched a playoff spot after the Arizona Coyotes' 3–2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche.^[5]

Despite leading the series against the San Jose Sharks 3–1 in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Golden Knights were eliminated in seven games, after blowing a 3–0 3rd period lead in the deciding game following a controversial^[6] major penalty.^[7]

Standings

Pacific Division

Pos	Team v t e	GP	W	L	OTL	ROW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	z – Calgary Flames	82	50	25	7	50	289	227	+62	107
2	x – San Jose Sharks	82	46	27	9	46	289	261	+28	101
3	x – Vegas Golden Knights	82	43	32	7	40	249	230	+19	93
4	Arizona Coyotes	82	39	35	8	35	213	223	−10	86
5	Vancouver Canucks	82	35	36	11	29	225	254	−29	81
6	Anaheim Ducks	82	35	37	10	32	199	251	−52	80
7	Edmonton Oilers	82	35	38	9	32	232	274	−42	79
8	Los Angeles Kings	82	31	42	9	28	202	263	−61	71

Source: National Hockey League^[8]
x – Clinched playoff spot; z – Clinched conference

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was released on June 18, 2018.^[9]

2018 preseason game log: 6–1–0 (Home: 3–1–0; Road: 3–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 16	Arizona	2–7	Vegas		Ferguson	17,567	1–0–0	[10]
2	September 18	Vegas	5–1	Colorado		Fucale	—	2–0–0	[11]
3	September 20	Vegas	7–2	Los Angeles		Dansk	12,916	3–0–0	[12]
4	September 22	Vegas	5–4	San Jose	SO	Lagace	—	4–0–0	[13]
5	September 24	Colorado	5–3	Vegas		Subban	17,880	4–1–0	[14]
6	September 28	Los Angeles	0–2	Vegas		Fleury	17,928	5–1–0	[15]
7	September 30	San Jose	2–5	Vegas		Fleury	17,958	6–1–0	[16]

Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.^[17]

2018–19 game log
October: 5–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1; Road: 2–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 4 Philadelphia 5–2 Vegas Fleury 18,555 0–1–0 0 [18] 2 October 6 Vegas 2–1 Minnesota SO Fleury 19,077 1–1–0 2 [19] 3 October 8 Vegas 2–4 Buffalo Fleury 16,004 1–2–0 2 [20] 4 October 10 Vegas 2–5 Washington Fleury 18,506 1–3–0 2 [21] 5 October 11 Vegas 2–4 Pittsburgh Subban 18,610 1–4–0 2 [22] 6 October 13 Vegas 1–0 Philadelphia Fleury 19,067 2–4–0 4 [23] 7 October 16 Buffalo 1–4 Vegas Fleury 18,321 3–4–0 6 [24] 8 October 20 Anaheim 1–3 Vegas Fleury 18,375 4–4–0 8 [25] 9 October 24 Vancouver 3–2 Vegas SO Fleury 18,189 4–4–1 9 [26] 10 October 26 Tampa Bay 3–2 Vegas Fleury 18,207 4–5–1 9 [27] 11 October 28 Ottawa 3–4 Vegas OT Fleury 18,089 5–5–1 11 [28] 12 October 30 Vegas 1–4 Nashville Subban 17,367 5–6–1 11 [29]
November: 9–6–0 (Home: 4–1–0; Road: 5–5–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 13 November 1 Vegas 3–5 St. Louis Fleury 16,813 5–7–1 11 [30] 14 November 3 Carolina 0–3 Vegas Fleury 18,328 6–7–1 13 [31] 15 November 6 Vegas 1–3 Toronto Fleury 19,045 6–8–1 13 [32] 16 November 8 Vegas 5–3 Ottawa Fleury 15,213 7–8–1 15 [33] 17 November 10 Vegas 4–5 Montreal Fleury 21,302 7–9–1 15 [34] 18 November 11 Vegas 1–4 Boston Subban 17,565 7–10–1 15 [35] 19 November 14 Anaheim 0–5 Vegas Fleury 18,111 8–10–1 17 [36] 20 November 16 St. Louis 4–1 Vegas Fleury 18,488 8–11–1 17 [37] 21 November 18 Vegas 6–3 Edmonton Fleury 18,347 9–11–1 19 [38] 22 November 19 Vegas 2–7 Calgary Subban 17,635 9–12–1 19 [39] 23 November 21 Vegas 3–2 Arizona OT Fleury 14,151 10–12–1 21 [40] 24 November 23 Calgary 0–2 Vegas Fleury 18,206 11–12–1 23 [41] 25 November 24 San Jose 0–6 Vegas Fleury 18,252 12–12–1 25 [42] 26 November 27 Vegas 8–3 Chicago Fleury 21,460 13–12–1 27 [43] 27 November 29 Vegas 4–3 Vancouver Fleury 16,880 14–12–1 29 [44]
December: 9–3–3 (Home: 5–0–2; Road: 4–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 28 December 1 Vegas 1–2 Edmonton Fleury 18,347 14–13–1 29 [45] 29 December 4 Washington 3–5 Vegas Fleury 18,125 15–13–1 31 [46] 30 December 6 Chicago 3–4 Vegas Fleury 18,494 16–13–1 33 [47] 31 December 8 Vegas 1–5 Los Angeles Fleury 17,631 16–14–1 33 [48] 32 December 9 Dallas 2–4 Vegas Fleury 18,240 17–14–1 35 [49] 33 December 12 Vegas 3–2 NY Islanders Fleury 9,182 18–14–1 37 [50] 34 December 14 Vegas 4–5 New Jersey OT Fleury 14,076 18–14–2 38 [51] 35 December 16 Vegas 4–3 NY Rangers OT Fleury 17,660 19–14–2 40 [52] 36 December 17 Vegas 0–1 Columbus Subban 15,008 19–15–2 40 [53] 37 December 20 NY Islanders 2–4 Vegas Fleury 18,226 20–15–2 42 [54] 38 December 22 Montreal 4–3 Vegas OT Fleury 18,173 20–15–3 43 [55] 39 December 23 Los Angeles 4–3 Vegas OT Fleury 18,225 20–15–4 44 [56] 40 December 27 Colorado 1–2 Vegas Fleury 18,505 21–15–4 46 [57] 41 December 29 Vegas 4–1 Los Angeles Subban 18,230 22–15–4 48 [58] 42 December 30 Vegas 5–1 Arizona Fleury 17,125 23–15–4 50 [59]
January: 6–4–0 (Home: 4–3–0; Road: 2–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 43 January 1 Los Angeles 0–2 Vegas Fleury 18,319 24–15–4 52 [60] 44 January 4 Vegas 3–2 Anaheim Fleury 17,222 25–15–4 54 [61] 45 January 6 New Jersey 2–3 Vegas Subban 18,103 26–15–4 56 [62] 46 January 8 NY Rangers 2–4 Vegas Fleury 18,249 27–15–4 58 [63] 47 January 10 San Jose 3–2 Vegas Fleury 18,367 27–16–4 58 [64] 48 January 12 Vegas 4–3 Chicago OT Fleury 21,760 28–16–4 60 [65] 49 January 15 Vegas 1–4 Winnipeg Fleury 15,321 28–17–4 60 [66] 50 January 19 Pittsburgh 3–7 Vegas Fleury 18,511 29–17–4 62 [67] 51 January 21 Minnesota 4–2 Vegas Fleury 18,328 29–18–4 62 [68] 52 January 23 Nashville 2–1 Vegas Fleury 18,477 29–19–4 62 [69]
February: 5–7–1 (Home: 3–4–1; Road: 2–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 53 February 1 Vegas 2–5 Carolina Lagace 17,104 29–20–4 62 [70] 54 February 2 Vegas 1–3 Florida Fleury 15,202 29–21–4 62 [71] 55 February 5 Vegas 3–2 Tampa Bay SO Fleury 19,092 30–21–4 64 [72] 56 February 7 Vegas 4–3 Detroit Fleury 18,889 31–21–4 66 [73] 57 February 9 Columbus 4–3 Vegas Fleury 18,301 31–22–4 66 [74] 58 February 12 Arizona 5–2 Vegas Fleury 18,212 31–23–4 66 [75] 59 February 14 Toronto 6–3 Vegas Fleury 18,214 31–24–4 66 [76] 60 February 16 Nashville 1–5 Vegas Subban 18,430 32–24–4 68 [77] 61 February 18 Vegas 0–3 Colorado Subban 17,808 32–25–4 68 [78] 62 February 20 Boston 3–2 Vegas SO Fleury 18,222 32–25–5 69 [79] 63 February 22 Winnipeg 6–3 Vegas Fleury 18,280 32–26–5 69 [80] 64 February 26 Dallas 1–4 Vegas Fleury 18,261 33–26–5 71 [81] 65 February 28 Florida 5–6 Vegas SO Subban 18,281 34–26–5 73 [82]
March: 8–4–2 (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 4–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 66 March 1 Vegas 3–0 Anaheim Fleury 16,456 35–26–5 75 [83] 67 March 3 Vancouver 0–3 Vegas Fleury 18,303 36–26–5 77 [84] 68 March 6 Calgary 1–2 Vegas Fleury 18,422 37–26–5 79 [85] 69 March 9 Vegas 6–2 Vancouver Fleury 18,286 38–26–5 81 [86] 70 March 10 Vegas 3–6 Calgary Subban 19,086 38–27–5 81 [87] 71 March 15 Vegas 2–1 Dallas Fleury 18,532 39–27–5 83 [88] 72 March 17 Edmonton 3–6 Vegas Subban 18,317 40–27–5 85 [89] 73 March 18 Vegas 7–3 San Jose Subban 17,487 41–27–5 87 [90] 74 March 21 Winnipeg 0–5 Vegas Subban 18,430 42–27–5 89 [91] 75 March 23 Detroit 3–2 Vegas OT Subban 18,437 42–27–6 90 [92] 76 March 25 Vegas 1–3 St. Louis Subban 18,247 42–28–6 90 [93] 77 March 27 Vegas 3–4 Colorado Subban 16,799 42–29–6 90 [94] 78 March 29 Minnesota 3–2 Vegas Subban 18,492 42–30–6 90 [95] 79 March 30 Vegas 3–4 San Jose OT Subban 17,562 42–30–7 91 [96]
April: 1–2–0 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 0–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 80 April 1 Edmonton 1–3 Vegas Subban 18,367 43–30–7 93 [97] 81 April 4 Arizona 4–1 Vegas Fleury 18,485 43–31–7 93 [98] 82 April 6 Vegas 2–5 Los Angeles Fleury 18,230 43–32–7 93 [99]
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Golden Knights faced the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs,^[100] and were defeated in seven games.^[101] They played against each other in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, where the Golden Knights defeated the Sharks in the second round in six games.^{[102][103][104]}

2019 Stanley Cup playoffs
Western Conference First Round vs. (P2) San Jose Sharks: San Jose won 4–3 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 10 Vegas 2–5 San Jose Fleury 17,562 0–1 [105] 2 April 12 Vegas 5–3 San Jose Fleury 17,562 1–1 [106] 3 April 14 San Jose 3–6 Vegas Fleury 18,461 2–1 [107] 4 April 16 San Jose 0–5 Vegas Fleury 18,567 3–1 [108] 5 April 18 Vegas 2–5 San Jose Fleury 17,562 3–2 [109] 6 April 21 San Jose 2–1 Vegas 2OT Fleury 18,458 3–3 [110] 7 April 23 Vegas 4–5 San Jose OT Fleury 17,562 3–4 [111]
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Final^[112]

Skaters

Regular season Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Jonathan Marchessault 82 25 34 59 +2 52 William Karlsson 82 24 32 56 +1 16 Reilly Smith 74 19 34 53 +13 14 Alex Tuch 74 20 32 52 +13 8 Paul Stastny 50 13 29 42 +14 30 Cody Eakin 78 22 19 41 +19 16 Max Pacioretty 66 22 18 40 −13 36 Shea Theodore 79 12 25 37 −4 20 Nate Schmidt 61 9 21 30 +22 8 Colin Miller 65 3 26 29 0 44 Ryan Reaves 80 9 11 20 +1 74 Brandon Pirri 31 12 6 18 +7 6 Ryan Carpenter 68 5 13 18 −6 8 Tomas Nosek 68 8 9 17 −10 18 Brayden McNabb 81 4 12 16 +11 52 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare 76 6 9 15 +2 6 Jon Merrill 57 3 12 15 +16 53 Nick Holden 61 3 12 15 +5 14 Oscar Lindberg‡ 35 4 8 12 +3 24 Deryk Engelland 74 2 10 12 −3 18 Mark Stone† 18 5 6 11 +4 5 William Carrier 54 8 1 9 −4 29 Brad Hunt‡ 13 2 5 7 +3 2 Erik Haula 15 2 5 7 +1 10 Tomas Hyka 17 1 3 4 −2 2 Valentin Zykov† 10 2 0 2 −3 0 Daniel Carr 6 1 0 1 −1 0 Jimmy Schuldt 1 0 1 1 −1 0

Playoffs Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM Mark Stone 7 6 6 12 +2 2 Max Pacioretty 7 5 6 11 +1 4 Paul Stastny 7 2 6 8 +2 2 Shea Theodore 7 1 7 8 +1 6 Jonathan Marchessault 7 4 2 6 +1 6 Reilly Smith 7 1 5 6 +1 0 William Karlsson 7 2 3 5 +1 2 Nate Schmidt 7 0 4 4 +2 2 Colin Miller 6 1 2 3 +1 6 Cody Eakin 7 2 0 2 +1 17 Alex Tuch 7 1 1 2 0 8 Brayden McNabb 7 0 1 1 +4 8 Deryk Engelland 7 0 1 1 +2 8 Nick Holden 1 0 0 0 −2 2 Brandon Pirri 1 0 0 0 0 0 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare 6 0 0 0 0 2 William Carrier 7 0 0 0 −1 6 Ryan Reaves 7 0 0 0 −1 17 Tomas Nosek 7 0 0 0 −3 14 Jon Merrill 7 0 0 0 −1 0

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Marc-Andre Fleury	61	61	3,635	35	21	5	152	2.51	1745	.913	8	0	2	4
Malcolm Subban	21	20	1,227	8	10	2	60	2.93	612	.902	1	0	0	4
Maxime Lagace	1	1	60	0	1	0	4	4.03	31	.871	0	0	0	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Marc-Andre Fleury	7	7	466:32	3	4	21	2.70	230	.909	1	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Golden Knights. Stats reflect time with the Golden Knights only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Golden Knights only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Transactions

The Golden Knights have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 23, 2018 (2018-06-23)	To Pittsburgh Penguins 7th-round pick in 2019	To Vegas Golden Knights 7th-round pick in 2018	[113]
September 10, 2018 (2018-09-10)	To Montreal Canadiens Tomas Tatar Nick Suzuki 2nd-round pick in 2019	To Vegas Golden Knights Max Pacioretty	[114]
January 3, 2019 (2019-01-03)	To Winnipeg Jets Jimmy Oligny	To Vegas Golden Knights Future considerations	[115]
January 21, 2019 (2019-01-21)	To Minnesota Wild Brad Hunt 6th-round pick in 2019	To Vegas Golden Knights Conditional 5th-round pick in 2019	[116]
February 25, 2019 (2019-02-25)	To Ottawa Senators Erik Brannstrom Oscar Lindberg DAL's 2nd-round pick in 2020	To Vegas Golden Knights Tobias Lindberg Mark Stone	[117]

Free agents

Date	Player	Team	Contract term	Ref
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Daniel Carr	from Montreal Canadiens	1-year	[118]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Zach Fucale	from Montreal Canadiens	1-year	[118]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Alex Gallant	from Tampa Bay Lightning	1-year	[118]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Nick Holden	from Boston Bruins	2-year	[119][118]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Curtis McKenzie	from Dallas Stars	2-year	[118]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Jimmy Oligny	from Milwaukee Admirals (AHL)	1-year	[118]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	David Perron	to St. Louis Blues	4-year	[120]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Paul Stastny	from Winnipeg Jets	3-year	[121][118]
July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02)	James Neal	to Calgary Flames	5-year	[122]
July 2, 2018 (2018-07-02)	Paul Thompson	to Florida Panthers	2-year	[123]
July 16, 2018 (2018-07-16)	Philip Holm	to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)	1-year	[124]
July 18, 2018 (2018-07-18)	Teemu Pulkkinen	to Dinamo Minsk (KHL)	1-year	[125]
September 24, 2018 (2018-09-24)	Luca Sbisa	to New York Islanders	1-year	[126]
October 2, 2018 (2018-10-02)	Jason Garrison	to Edmonton Oilers	1-year	[127]
April 3, 2019 (2019-04-03)	Jimmy Schuldt	from St. Cloud State Huskies (NCHC)	1-year	[128]

Waivers

Date	Player	Team	Ref
December 29, 2018 (2018-12-29)	Valentin Zykov	from Edmonton Oilers	[129]

Contract terminations Date Player Via Ref

Retirement Date Player Ref

Signings

Date	Player	Contract term	Ref
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Maxime Lagace	1-year	[130]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Brandon Pirri	1-year	[131]
July 1, 2018 (2018-07-01)	Ryan Reaves	2-year	[132]
July 6, 2018 (2018-07-06)	Oscar Dansk	2-year	[133]
July 7, 2018 (2018-07-07)	Colin Miller	4-year	[134]
July 13, 2018 (2018-07-13)	Marc-Andre Fleury	3-year	[135]
July 18, 2018 (2018-07-18)	Tomas Nosek	1-year	[136]
July 23, 2018 (2018-07-23)	William Carrier	2-year	[137]
August 4, 2018 (2018-08-04)	William Karlsson	1-year	[138]
September 10, 2018 (2018-09-10)	Max Pacioretty	4-year	[139]
September 24, 2018 (2018-09-24)	Shea Theodore	7-year	[140]
October 19, 2018 (2018-10-19)	Alex Tuch	7-year	[141]
October 25, 2018 (2018-10-25)	Nate Schmidt	6-year	[142]
December 28, 2018 (2018-12-28)	Paul Cotter	3-year	[143]
March 8, 2019 (2019-03-08)	Mark Stone	8-year	[144]
April 14, 2019 (2019-04-14)	Nikita Gusev	1-year	[145]
May 30, 2019 (2019-05-30)	Jonas Rondbjerg	3-year	[146]

Draft picks

See also: List of Vegas Golden Knights draft picks

Below are the Vegas Golden Knights' selections at the 2018 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	61	Ivan Morozov	C	Russia	Mamonty Yugry (MHL)
4	991	Slava Demin	D	United States	Wenatchee Wild (BCHL)
4	1152	Paul Cotter	C	United States	Lincoln Stars (USHL)
5	1353	Brandon Kruse	LW	United States	Bowling Green State University (WCHA)
5	154	Connor Corcoran	D	Canada	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
6	1804	Peter Diliberatore	D	Canada	Salisbury School (USHS)
6	185	Xavier Bouchard	D	Canada	Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
7	2085	Jordan Kooy	G	Canada	London Knights (OHL)

Notes:

1. The Vancouver Canucks' fourth-round pick went to the Vegas Golden Knights as the result of a trade on February 23, 2018, that sent Derick Brassard to Pittsburgh in exchange for Ryan Reaves and this pick.^[147]
2. The Pittsburgh Penguins' fourth-round pick went to the Vegas Golden Knights as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that ensured Vegas would select Jason Garrison in the 2017 NHL expansion draft from Tampa Bay in exchange for Nikita Gusev, a second-round pick in 2017 and this pick.^[148]
3. The Carolina Hurricanes' fifth-round pick went to the Vegas Golden Knights as the result of a trade on July 4, 2017, that sent Marcus Kruger to Carolina in exchange for this pick.^[149]
4. The Toronto Maple Leafs' sixth-round pick went to the Vegas Golden Knights as the result of a trade on October 6, 2017, that sent Calvin Pickard to Toronto in exchange for Tobias Lindberg and this pick.^[150]
5. The Pittsburgh Penguins' seventh-round pick went to the Vegas Golden Knights as the result of a trade on June 23, 2018, that sent a seventh-round pick in 2019 to Pittsburgh in exchange for this pick.^[151]