The Golden Knights’ first loss of the season arrived fast, and it arrived ugly enough to sting.
Vegas fell 4-3 to the Anaheim Ducks on Friday night after a third-period push came up short, and the bigger issue was how long it took the Golden Knights to get involved at all. Their first goal didn’t come until midway through the third, long after Anaheim had built a 4-0 cushion. Carter Hart took some of the heat, as goalies usually do when a game gets away, but this one was never only on him.
The Knights spent too much of the night chasing. They were buried before they started to look like themselves, and by then the comeback window had narrowed to almost nothing.
Anaheim, once a team Vegas could treat as an easy two points, looked like something else entirely. The Ducks have a young core coming together and could be a division contender for the foreseeable future.
That makes the rest of the season series a lot more interesting, since these clubs still have three more meetings left.
The matchup also served as a reminder that the Pacific is already throwing curveballs. Vegas opened with a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Opening Night, but the first two games have produced back-to-back seven-goal outings.
At some point, the league settles down and the defensive games start to take over again. Anaheim managed to play that kind of tighter hockey for 40 minutes, and Vegas did not.
Now the Golden Knights turn to a two-game trip to the Pacific Northwest, starting Sunday in Vancouver. The Canucks are in the middle of a major rebuild after finishing with the lowest point total in the NHL last season, but they have already shown some bite. In their first two games, they went 1-1 against the Oilers, a team with real Stanley Cup expectations.
That sets up a tricky stretch for Vegas, with Ryan Craig facing a decision between Carter Hart and Adin Hill. The question is whether Hart starts against the Canucks and Seattle Kraken or Hill gets his first start of the season. Either way, the margin for error is thin, and if the Golden Knights don’t treat these games properly, they could leave the trip with more questions about a slow start.
In Other News...
Golden Knights Are Bringing Back A Piece Of Their Earliest Identity
The Golden Knights are reaching back into their origin story for a special night at T-Mobile Arena, setting up a Welcome to Impossible Knight celebration for Oct. 10, 2026, the anniversary of their first home game. As part of the clubs 10th season festivities, the team plans to bring out the inaugural gray jerseys one last time, along with a commemorative puck giveaway and a fan fest built around the people and moments that defined the early days.
The night will also feature former players, the franchises first head coach and historical artifacts from the 2017-18 season, giving longtime supporters a chance to revisit the launch of one of the NHLs most remarkable expansion stories. For a franchise that arrived with no history and quickly made one, the event is being framed less as a throwback than a farewell to the look and feel that first introduced Vegas hockey to the league. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Bring Back A Familiar Voice For Season 10
The Golden Knights are keeping a familiar sound in place for season 10, announcing their television and radio broadcast team for the 2026-27 campaign. Fans will again hear Dave Goucher and Shane Hnidy on the call for the clubs local TV package, which is set to air 69 games on Scripps Sports The Spot Vegas-34, a steady arrangement for a team that has built its identity almost as much through its on-ice success as through its media presence.
The broadcast lineup around them is also loaded with names longtime viewers will recognize, including Daren Millard, Jamie Hersch, Ashali Vise, Gary Lawless, Darren Eliot, Alec Martinez and Jeff Sharples. On the radio side, coverage will continue on X 107.9 and 105.7 Maxima, giving the Knights a wide footprint as they head into another season with much of their familiar presentation intact. [Read more 🡒]
Trevor Connelly Suddenly Faces A Big Golden Knights Test
Trevor Connellys NHL debut gave the Golden Knights an immediate glimpse of what the 20-year-old winger can bring. He scored in Vegas opening game, a quick first impression that matched the momentum he built last season with the Henderson Silver Knights, where he put up 14 goals and 35 assists.
Now comes the harder part, because one strong night is only the start of the conversation for a rookie trying to stick in the league. The Golden Knights have plenty of reasons to keep watching Connelly closely, but his challenge is to turn that debut into the kind of consistent production and all-around reliability that keeps him in the roster picture. [Read more 🡒]