(Photo Credit: @mnwild on X/Twitter)

Last night, the Golden Knights got their butts kicked by the Minnesota Wild, one of the Western Conference elites. Two nights earlier, VGK gave up multiple two-goal leads and a late game-tying goal to Colorado, ultimately losing in shootout, to another one of the Western Conference elites. About a week earlier, Vegas found themselves in a 4-0 hole in Edmonton and went on to lose in regulation to yet another one of the Western Conference elites.

You’re probably recognizing a trend, and it’s a troubling one.

This season, the Golden Knights are winless in nine games against teams currently sitting in playoff position by points percentage. That’s the Avalanche, Stars, Wild, Oilers, Ducks, Kings, and Kraken. VGK are a combined 0-3-6 against those teams and have a goal differential of -12.

Going back to last year, Vegas have now lost 12 straight games against Western Conference playoff opponents. They have just one win (over Minnesota last year) in their last 17 games and have a record of 1-9-7 in those games.

It’s a bit better against the best teams in the Eastern Conference, but still nothing to get excited about. VGK have won four of their 12 games against the East’s best for a record of 4-5-3.

Thus, VGK have a combined record of 4-8-9 against this year’s current playoff teams. Four wins in 21 games. A points percentage of .405, which would be the worst in the NHL… by a lot (Chicago .447).

Of course, that means they are a stellar 13-1-2 against non-playoff opponents, including three wins over San Jose, who are currently in a playoff spot by total points.

In VGK’s first eight seasons, they have never finished with fewer than 10 wins against Western Conference playoff teams. In a full season, they’ve never ended a season with fewer than 16 wins against all playoff teams, while they’ve eclipsed 20 in each of the last four seasons. Again, they currently have four, and the season is nearly halfway gone.

Seasonvs. Westvs. EastTotalPoints Percentage

25‑260‑3‑64‑5‑34‑8‑90.405

24‑2512‑7‑48‑7‑120‑14‑50.577

23‑2414‑6‑27‑9‑021‑15‑20.579

22‑2313‑8‑39‑5‑222‑13‑50.613

21‑2213‑11‑27‑7‑220‑18‑40.524

20‑2113‑9‑2N/A13‑9‑20.583

19‑2011‑6‑16‑6‑417‑12‑50.574

18‑1910‑12‑16‑9‑116‑21‑20.436

17‑1814‑7‑310‑5‑124‑12‑40.650

Here’s a little positive history for you, though. In 2022-23, the year the Golden Knights went on to win the Stanley Cup, they began the season with a record of 7-7-2 against the Western Conference playoff teams. They finished the year winning six of the final eight and then cruised through the postseason with a glorious 16-6 record against the best teams in the world.

Injuries have obviously hampered this year’s team, and even with Jack Eichel seemingly on the mend, full health doesn’t appear to be coming any time soon. But if the ultimate goal remains to win the Stanley Cup, they’re going to have to start proving they can beat the better teams in the league, no matter who is in the lineup.