All That Glitters is Not Golden Knights

I've written two stories on the Vegas Golden Knights already. The first one centered on how the team and their fans have become immensely unlikable in less than five years of existence. The elitism that has blanketed the culture of the Golden Knights is due to the results of their inaugural year. As we all know, Year One saw the Golden Knights finish first in the Pacific Division, surpass the 100-point mark, and reach the Stanley Cup Final. They even won the first game of the Final, but lost the next four, but in spite of the defeat, just getting there on their first try was enough to pump the egos of the Golden Knights and their fans. They expected this every year. I'd go as far as to say that the team felt they deserved to be handed the Cup on the following year.

The three seasons that followed, however, only saw decline, which brings me to my second story about the Golden Knights. The second story centered on the previous season, Year Four. The team's fourth season featured their second straight 3rd round defeat, this time against the Montréal Canadiens. You remember the Canadiens: the so-called bad team in the so-called bad Canadian Division that wasn't supposed to win one playoff game and was supposed to be demolished by Vegas in that series? The Knights and their fans thought they had a cake walk after beating the Colorado Avalanche in Round 2. Not so fast.

Losing out to the upstart Canadiens is Vegas' lowest point, but it may be lower. It's Year Five. The team still expects a Cup. The fans still expect it. Yet a funny thing is happening: they are barely hanging on to a playoff position right now. Of course, Golden Knights fans will use injuries as an excuse (they were without Max Pacioretty and Mark Stone earlier in the season) because they've been believing in excuses ever since Year Two. Their favorite excuse since 2020 was blaming goaltender Robin Lehner for losses, but that was when they had Marc-Andre Fleury (who also had some bad losses). They traded Fleury (in shady fashion) to the Chicago Blackhawks, meaning that Vegas fans had no choice to embrace Lehner as their starter. So far, Lehner is 21-15-1 with a GAA of 2.78, a .909 SV%, and one shutout. His backup, Laurent Brossoit, is 10-8-3 with an .899 SV%, but with the same GAA and shutout total as Lehner.

On the offensive side, it's Jonathan Marchessault, who has been with the team since being taken from the Florida Panthers in the expansion draft, leading the way. Marchessault has 45 points, which leads the team, and 24 of them are goals, which also leads the team. Close behind is Chandler Stephenson with 43 points, but he is first in assists with 29. Reilly Smith is third with 38 points (16 G/22 A), and fourth on the team is Shea Theodore, whose 36 points (8 G/28 A) lead the way for Vegas' defensemen. As for Pacioretty and Stone, they have managed to average a point a game despite being riddled with injuries. The Knights also picked up Jack Eichel in a trade that sent Alex Tuch and Peyton Krebs to the Buffalo Sabres, and in 12 games played (following his neck surgery), Eichel has eight points (4 G/4 A).

Regarding team stats, the Knights are scoring 3.07 goals per game, which is 14th in the league. However, their power play continues to be a problem for them; 17.4%, which is 27th in the league. The PP was their downfall last year against the Habs; they scored ZERO PP goals in that series. Vegas' penalty kill percentage is 79.3, which is middle of the pack (17th in the league), but they have scored eight shorthanded goals, which ties the Toronto Maple Leafs for the most in the league.

At the moment, the Golden Knights are barely hanging on to third place in the Pacific Division, as they are in a battle with another struggling team, the Edmonton Oilers. While they do have more points than one potential Wild Card in the Dallas Stars, they have fewer points than the other one: the Nashville Predators. With third place in the Pacific and the Wild Card race being so close, the Vegas Golden Knights actually face missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in their short history. This team has reached (at least) the Final Four in three of their first four seasons, and to go from that to completely missing out entirely would be immensely humiliating. However, because the team and their fans have been pounding their chests for the wrong reasons, there's no sympathy for them. In fact, I'd be confident in saying that there would be massive cheers if the unthinkable happens and Vegas misses the playoffs. If that does happen, how will they respond? Will this be a wake up call for the Knights and their fans to humble themselves? Or will nothing change and they continue to dish out excuses and entitlement?

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Check out my past two stories about the Vegas Golden Knights: