The Golden Knights didn’t need a lot of offense to keep rolling Saturday night, but they did need the power play to do the heavy lifting.
Vegas edged the Los Angeles Kings 2-1 in overtime at T-Mobile Arena, and both Golden Knights goals came with the extra skater. Mitch Marner finished the job just nine seconds into the power play at 2:40 of overtime, giving Vegas its fifth win of the season and pushing the club to the top of the NHL standings as the first team to hit 10 points this year.
That finish capped a sharp response from a unit that had gone 0-for-4 against the Toronto Maple Leafs only a few nights earlier. Against the Kings, Vegas went 2-for-3 on the man advantage and made each chance count.
Trevor Connelly got things started in the second period, scoring the first power-play goal of his career after a slick setup from captain Mark Stone and Marner. Jack Eichel’s point streak ended in the process, though he still played a key role in keeping the puck in the zone just before the finish. If the league handed out three assists on a goal, he’d have had one there.
The Knights’ second power-play strike was a bit of a reset of the first. In overtime, Connelly again helped set the table, holding the puck along the boards after the face-off before Stone sent it back to the point and Marner buried it.
Los Angeles, still winless, answered with its own power-play goal in the second period. Artem Panarin tied the game at 1-1 with the Kings’ only man-advantage score, and the teams stayed close in just about every statistical category throughout an even game.
For Vegas, the broader trend is the real story. The Knights finished the 2025-26 season with the NHL’s sixth-best power play at 24.6% under Bruce Cassidy and John Tortorella, and they’re even hotter early this year. Through six games, they’ve scored on the power play in all but one and are sitting at 30.4%, with seven goals on 23 chances.
A year ago at this point, Vegas was 9-for-24, a 37.5% clip that would be tough for any team to sustain. Still, the current group looks dangerous, especially with a rookie stepping into a role that became open when Victor Olofsson was sidelined by injury.
Connelly has moved quickly into the conversation. The 20-year-old, one of the most hyped prospects to come out of Henderson, is getting help from the veterans around him and handling the pressure well. If Vegas stays healthy, the Knights could have one of the league’s most effective power-play units.
Of course, nothing in hockey is guaranteed for long. The source of that reminder is still fresh: in the Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes, Vegas went 2-for-18, an 11.1% mark that played into its six-game loss.
In Other News...
Golden Knights Face Early Test Beyond Their Red-Hot Top Line
The Golden Knights have opened the season atop the Pacific Division, and much of that early push has come from the kind of top-line production that can carry a team through the first weeks of a schedule. But even in a good start, there are other pressures underneath the scoring, and Vegas is already juggling roster tweaks caused by injury while trying to keep its defensive structure and special teams steady.
Over the next stretch, the focus shifts from simply riding offense to managing the grind that comes with a demanding slate. The Golden Knights have to navigate road trips, balance pairings on the back end, protect their penalty kill, and keep the workload reasonable for their goaltenders while they move through games in Minnesota, Nashville, Calgary and Pittsburgh. The challenge is less about what the top line has already done and more about how well the rest of the roster holds up if the schedule starts asking harder questions. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Call-Up Puts Unexpected Focus On Vegas Blue-Line Depth
The Golden Knights latest roster move brought some unexpected attention back to the back end, with defenseman Ville Heinola recalled from the Henderson Silver Knights to give Vegas another option on the blue line. The move comes as the team adjusts its group after an injury setback up front, and it underscores how quickly depth can become a priority over the course of a season.
Heinolas arrival adds another layer of insurance behind the regular defense rotation, where Dylan Coghlan already serves as a backup option. For a Vegas club that likes to stay protected against attrition, the recall is a reminder that the margin for error can shrink fast, and the next man up often needs to be ready before the lineup picture settles. [Read more 🡒]
Golden Knights Are Getting Exactly What Fans Hoped From This Start
The Golden Knights keep stacking up the kind of early results their fan base was hoping to see, and the latest one came in a familiar, high-leverage way. Vegas beat the Kings in overtime to run the winning streak to four, with Mitch Marner finishing the nights biggest moment, while Trevor Connelly and Mark Stone each chipped in on the scoresheet as the team kept its offense moving.
Just as important, the Knights got production on special teams, converting twice on the power play and showing the sort of balance that can make a hot start feel sustainable. Connellys night stood out in particular as another sign that the supporting cast is finding its footing, and with Minnesota next on the schedule, Vegas now gets another chance to prove this opening stretch is more than a fast start. [Read more 🡒]