In a little more than a decade, the Vegas Golden Knights have gone from expansion team to one of the NHL’s heavyweights. That kind of rise comes with baggage. Vegas has piled up wins, reached the Stanley Cup Final three times and won the Cup in 2023, but it has also built a long list of Pacific Division enemies along the way.
The numbers tell part of the story. Since arriving in 2017-18, the Golden Knights have played the same seven Pacific Division teams over and over, outside of the restructured 2020-21 season, and they’ve turned that grind into the league’s fifth-best record at 401-224-76. But some matchups have carried a little more bite than others.
At the top of the list sits Edmonton. The Oilers are the only Pacific Division team with a winning record against Vegas going into the 2026-27 season, holding a 14-12-4 edge in 30 meetings.
The playoff split is dead even, too: the Golden Knights beat Edmonton in six games in 2023, then lost to them in five games in 2025. Add in the fact that Edmonton has never finished first in the Pacific Division since Vegas joined it, often landing second behind the Golden Knights, and every meeting has carried extra weight.
San Jose comes in at No. 2, and the regular-season record is lopsided in Vegas’ favor: 31-2-5 in 38 games. The playoffs are where this one really turned.
In 2017, during the Golden Knights’ first run to the Stanley Cup Final, the Sharks pushed them to Game 6. Then came 2018, when Vegas lost Game 7 in overtime in the first round in what remains one of the most memorable postseason games in franchise history.
That series, and the frustration around it, helped turn San Jose into public enemy number one, with the help of NHL officials.
Los Angeles checks in at No. 3 because the Kings have consistently made life difficult for Vegas. The Golden Knights are 21-15-6 in 40 meetings, and the Kings have also been part of the franchise’s playoff history in a major way, with Vegas sweeping them in the first round in 2017 for the team’s first series win.
The Kings’ habit of staying near the top of the division has also kept the Golden Knights sweating late in the season. Notable players in the rivalry include Jonathan Quick, Alec Martinez, and Brayden McNabb.
Calgary lands at No. 4, even though the Flames haven’t been much of a threat lately. Vegas owns a 19-9-2 record in 30 games, and Calgary’s drop down the standings has taken some of the edge off the matchup. Still, the rivalry gets a boost from the number of familiar faces who have worn both sweaters, including Rasmus Andersson, Zach Whitecloud, and Noah Hanifin, among others.
Seattle is fifth, and one game gave this matchup its spark: the 2024 Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park. The Kraken shut out the Golden Knights 3-0 in what was Vegas’ second-ever outdoor game, and that result was enough to give the league’s newest team an instant edge in the rivalry conversation.
Outside of that loss, Vegas is 13-3-3 in 19 regular-season meetings. Notable players in the rivalry include Chandler Stephenson and Pierre-Édouard Bellemare.
Anaheim sits at No. 6.
The Ducks have been out of the picture competitively for a while, which has given Vegas plenty of chances to build a strong record, and the Golden Knights are 27-8-3 against them going into 2026. The two clubs also met in the second round last year, with Vegas advancing in six games.
Notable players in the rivalry include William Karlsson and Shea Theodore.
Vancouver rounds out the list at No. 7.
The Golden Knights have dominated the Canucks since joining the league, going 21-4-3 in 28 meetings. Vancouver’s one real punch came in the 2020 second round, when it pushed Vegas to Game 7 in their only playoff meeting.
Notable players in the rivalry include Ben Hutton and Nate Schmidt.
In Other News...
Golden Knights Roundup Hints At One Old Story And Fresh Marner Buzz
Former Golden Knights coach John Tortorella is already looking ahead to another run behind an NHL bench, saying he still wants to coach once his current contract runs out after the 2025-26 season. For Vegas fans, it is a reminder of how quickly coaching storylines can circle back in this league, especially with a veteran voice like Tortorella still interested in staying in the game.
Mitch Marners side also added a fresh layer to the ongoing conversation around his career path, with his agent revisiting how the winger was handled in Toronto and the scrutiny that came with it. In the same roundup, the Golden Knights had plenty of positive representation elsewhere, with 11 players landing in the NHLs Top 250 Fantasy Hockey list, another sign of just how much talent remains packed into the roster. [Read more 🡒]
Mitch Marner And Darren Ferris Drag Maple Leafs Drama Back Again
The old friction around Mitch Marner and the Maple Leafs is back in view, and Darren Ferris is once again at the center of it. Ferris has been publicly critical of how Toronto handled the scrutiny around Marner, arguing the club did not protect him when the noise around him got loud, which only adds another layer to a relationship that has long felt strained by mismatched expectations and competing priorities.
What makes this round of debate linger is that it does not fit neatly into a blame game. The Leafs, Marner, Ferris and the fan base all have their own version of how things went sideways, and the latest comments have pushed a private issue back into the public conversation without offering any easy resolution. [Read more 🡒]
3 Goalies Golden Knights Fans Have Every Reason To Hate
Since the Golden Knights arrived in the league in 2017-18, plenty of goaltenders have taken their turns trying to slow them down, and a few have built reputations that stick with Vegas fans long after the final horn. John Gibson has seen them more than anyone, but the more interesting names are the ones still active in the NHL, especially when the conversation turns from regular-season annoyance to playoff scar tissue.
Brandon Bussi, Sergei Bobrovsky and Jake Oettinger each have a different kind of history against Vegas, which is part of what makes them worth watching whenever the matchup comes around again. Bobrovsky has been especially tough in regular-season meetings, while Oettinger has already logged more playoff games against the Golden Knights than any other goalie, with the series results splitting in a way that keeps the rivalry feeling unfinished. [Read more 🡒]