(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Last night, the Golden Knights put themselves in a deeper hole in their pursuit of the top seed in the Pacific Division. Vegas went scoreless for their second straight game, both against playoff opponents. Dating back to March 14th’s 4-0 victory over the woeful Chicago Blackhawks, the Golden Knights have not scored in the last seven periods, 147 minutes and nine seconds. Unfortunately, it’s beginning to look like Vegas is more of a second or third seed rather than a divisional winner. Thankfully, one of VGK’s biggest rivals is trending in the same direction.

With Leon Draisaitl now out for the regular season, the Golden Knights and Edmonton Oilers will need all the help they can get to qualify for the playoffs. Like Vegas, Edmonton’s regular season has been underwhelming, but both have an 80%, or better, chance of making the 2026 postseason. While the Oilers deal with a devastating injury loss the Golden Knights have a chance to avoid them or host them in April’s opening round.

Trusted projection sites have both the Golden Knights and Oilers ending up with around 91 to 93 points. The same sites have the Anaheim Ducks winning the Pacific, but only by 2 points. This welcomes the opportunity for Vegas to leapfrog both and finish the season as the top seed in the division. The Golden Knights would actually have to start winning some games to do so. Since the Olympic break, Vegas has the 30th worst points percentage with .364. Above only Seattle and Toronto.

(Credit: NHL.com)

The Pacific Division had an historically horrible evening on Thursday. VGK have been fortunate that their struggles have coincided with literally everyone else they are competing with for a playoff spot. Vegas has amassed just eight points since the Olympic Break, yet has not lost any ground on Seattle, lost just four points on the Kings and Sharks, and only five on Edmonton.

With Anaheim off last night, the Ducks watched as Edmonton and Vegas both failed to climb any closer. Anaheim has the edge in the all-important ‘games in hand’ statistic, and they face 10 non-playoff teams in their final 14 games, whereas Vegas will face seven.

So, maybe the division is slipping away for the Golden Knights, and they are more of a Pacific Division’s second or third seed, or even worse, falling to one of the two Wild Card spots. However, if Draisaitl fully recovers for the postseason, the Oilers will be a problem.

(Credit: HockeyStats.com)

Vegas can combat that by holding home ice and returning to their seven-game successful form back in January. They need to be looking up at the standings, now down, and that starts tomorrow in Nashville.