(Photo Credit: @GoldenKnights on X/Twitter)

Bruce Cassidy has always said that he and his staff evaluate the team after each 10-game segment of the season. Through the first segment, the Golden Knights are off to another strong start with a 6-1-3 record, .750 points percentage, and hold the top spot in the Pacific Division.

The Golden Knights franchise is no stranger to getting off to excellent starts to begin each season. In team history, they’ve been below .500 through 10 games just once and have been at least .750 in six of their nine seasons, including four straight.

RecordPts %HomeAwayGoal Diff

25-266-1-3.7503-0-13-1-2+9

24-257-2-1.7507-0-00-2-1+19

23-249-0-1.9505-0-14-0-0+16

22-238-2-0.8005-1-03-1-0+15

21-225-5-0.5002-3-03-2-0-5

20-218-1-1.8507-0-11-1-0+11

19-206-4-0.6003-2-03-2-0+7

18-194-5-1.4502-2-12-3-0-5

17-188-2-0.8006-1-02-1-0+12

This year’s team has lost more games in the first 10 than any other Cassidy-led VGK team, but they’ve also played a few more games on the road than any of the previous three.

Offensively, it’s been good, but nowhere near as impressive as the first 10 last year.

GoalsShotsShooting %Corsi (5v5)Goals (5v5)

25-263728513.0%50.7%21

24-254728916.3%46.8%35

23-243528812.2%47.3%23

22-23323409.4%50.5%22

21-22253357.4%48.7%20

20-21313429.1%57.3%22

19-20333509.4%49.9%17

18-19213336.3%58.8%13

17-183729412.6%47.7%22

The shooting percentage numbers pop off the chart here, as this year’s team has registered the second-best shooting percentage to open a season in franchise history. Amazingly, despite scoring 37 goals in 10 games, they’ve landed the fewest shots of any Golden Knights team through 10 games. The main reason for that has been the power play, which has been excellent once again.

PP%PK%PPGPPGAPP TOIPK TOI

25-2627.0%78.6%10651:4742:30

24-2533.3%77.3%9543:5137:33

23-2422.9%89.7%8358:0153:38

22-2318.8%89.7%6552:4636:23

21-220.0%81.0%0436:0035:00

20-2115.2%81.8%5657:0253:56

19-2028.6%90.0%10452:4670:47

18-199.4%81.5%3556:2650:03

17-1818.2%82.4%8676:5256:53

The combined special teams percentage of 105.6% is tremendous, especially considering the road-heavy opening schedule. VGK are +4 in special teams goals, a common thread for Cassidy teams.

Finally, the defense has been solid, but not outstanding, so far.

Goals AgainstShots AgainstBlocksHitsGoals Against (5v5)

25-262725618022718

24-252828918317622

23-242229917325817

22-231729020622312

21-223124618321824

20-212525017125518

19-202733814128323

18-192624312228319

17-182533214817316

18 goals against at 5-on-5 is a great number through 10 games. They’re hitting a lot more than last year as well, which was a focus coming into the season.

Overall, it’s another great start for a team that has made a habit of it. There are still 72 games to go, but so far, this team looks like it’s poised to do in the regular season what all but one of its predecessors did, which is make the playoffs fairly easily.