The Vegas Golden Knights haven’t just won a lot since entering the league in 2017. They’ve piled up a .572 winning percentage, reached the Stanley Cup Final three times, and won the Cup once. They’ve also missed the playoffs only once, and that lone absence came in the 2021-22 season when injuries ravaged the roster and players like Mark Stone, Jack Eichel, and Max Pacioretty were sidelined for games.
That kind of track record leaves plenty of playoff moments to choose from. For a franchise with this much success, the list of signature games is already deep, and these four stand above the rest.
At No. 4 is Game 5 of the First Round on April 29, 2026, the one that ended with Pavel Dorofeyev stealing the spotlight. He scored a hat trick, and his game-tying goal came with less than a minute left. That swing of momentum set up Brett Howden’s short-handed game-winner against the Utah Mammoth, sending Vegas on to the Second Round.
No. 3 goes back to May 20, 2018, when the Golden Knights finished their Western Conference Final run with a 2-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets in Game 5. Marc-Andre Fleury was the difference, stopping 31 of 32 shots, while Alex Tuch and Ryan Reaves supplied the goals. It was the capstone to that improbable push to the Stanley Cup Final, and it announced Vegas as a real force in the NHL.
The No. 2 spot belongs to Game 6 of the Second Round on May 14, 2023, a bruising matchup with the Edmonton Oilers that had plenty of edge. Evander Kane was blowing kisses, slashes were flying, and the Golden Knights answered with a 5-2 win to slam the door on their rivals. Jonathan Marchessault delivered a natural hat trick in the second period, and the victory moved Vegas one step closer to the championship Bill Foley had promised six years earlier.
And at No. 1, of course, is Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on June 13, 2023. Mark Stone’s hat trick powered the clincher, the night that finished the job and gave the Golden Knights the Cup. It was the moment that turned a playoff run into a defining citywide celebration, and it cemented Vegas as Las Vegas’s team.
In Other News...
Golden Knights Suddenly Have A Goalie Opportunity With One Huge Catch
Connor Hellebuycks public trade request has instantly put one of the NHLs best goalies into the conversation, and the Golden Knights are the kind of contender that will naturally be mentioned whenever a player of that caliber becomes available. Vegas has never been shy about exploring aggressive roster moves, especially when a proven difference-maker could tilt the balance in a tight Western Conference race.
The problem, as always, is fitting a premium talent into a cap structure that already leaves little room for error. The Golden Knights would have to navigate a tricky salary cap situation to make any deal work, and as of now there is no official trade in place. Still, the possibility alone is enough to keep Vegas watchers paying attention, because opportunities like this do not come around often for a team built to win now. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Cup Hopes May Come Down To Three Fragile Core Pieces
The Golden Knights head into the new season with the sting of a Stanley Cup Final loss to Carolina still fresh, and the roster picture already looks a little different as they move through the offseason. Pavel Dorofeyev and Keegan Kolesar will not be part of the group, while general manager Kelly McCrimmon is still weighing possible moves that could reshape the lineup, with Dylan Larkin and Connor Hellebuyck among the names in the mix.
For all the front-office maneuvering, Vegas biggest question may come down to the players already in place. Mark Stone, William Karlsson and Carter Hart loom as the kind of core pieces that can swing a season, and the Golden Knights hopes rise or fall with how well they can stay on the ice and deliver. In a league where depth matters, the margin for error gets awfully thin when so much hinges on a few fragile pillars. [Read more 🡒]
Vegas Fans Still Haven't Forgotten These Playoff Collapses
Vegas fans have seen plenty of postseason highs over the years, but a few collapses still linger whenever the conversation turns to the franchises playoff history. There was the stunning Game 3 letdown against Carolina after Vegas had built a 4-0 lead, and the pain only deepened in the Stanley Cup Final atmosphere around it. Add in the rough Game 6 defeat to Montreal, and you have a reminder that even a team built to contend can find its momentum shattered in the most unforgiving stretch of the season.
The frustration did not stop there, either. Last springs first-round series loss to Dallas became another sore spot, with Wyatt Johnston taking over the matchup and tilting the series in the Stars favor as Vegas struggled to recover. Nights like those still shape how this fan base remembers the postseason, because for all the success the Golden Knights have piled up, the hardest exits tend to stick longest. [Read more 🡒]