(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

The Golden Knights have now been shut out seven times in their playoff history. As we are all painfully aware, in the final two games of the Second Round against the Edmonton Oilers. That’s 28% of their entire postseason droughts in one short series. Obviously, Vegas struggled to score in the final two contests but looking back at their offseason and deadline decisions, should fans be surprised?

I wouldn’t overreact to the fact that we didn’t score enough goals. It wasn’t a chronic issue that you would have expected to be our demise in the postseason.” -McCrimmon

This season the Golden Knights scored 11 more goals than they did last season and allowed 39 fewer. It should be considered a major success. Based on the final standings and seasonal statistics, Vegas looked to be in a better position to make a deeper run than they were a year ago. Unfortunately, neither of the last two rosters qualified for the final four. When only two years prior, the Golden Knights were the last club standing.

Unfortunately, we lost too many close games. That was the difference. We didn’t score the last two games. That’s the difference. – William Karlsson

In 2023, Vegas had a true blend of balance on defense, goaltending, and offense. This postseason, there was a significant imbalance. Especially against the Oilers in the Second Round. Against Edmonton, Vegas’ inefficiencies on offense were a glaring problem. Of course, the Golden Knights blue liners had problems of their own, but they didn’t lose in five due to poor defense. It was VGK’s 12 forwards that earned the lion’s share of the blame. In key moments, the goals didn’t come.

VGK’s Missed Shots vs. Edmonton

Ivan Barbashev: 8 Missed Shots (7 Missed Wide, 0% Shooting Percentage)
William Karlsson: 7 Missed Shots (5 Missed Wide, 1 Missed Short, 1 Post, 28.6% Shooting Percentage)
Victor Olofsson: 7 Missed Shots (7 Missed Wide, 20% Shooting Percentage)
Brett Howden: 7 Missed Shots (7 Missed Wide, 0% Shooting Percentage)
Jack Eichel: 6 Missed Shots (3 Missed Wide, 2 Missed Over, 1 Crossbar, 0% Shooting Percentage)
Nic Roy: 6 Missed Shots (6 Missed Wide, 25% Shooting Percentage)
Brandon Saad: 5 Missed Shots (5 Missed Wide, 0% Shooting Percentage)
Shea Theodore: 5 Missed Shots (5 Missed Wide, 0% Shooting Percentage)

On top of the constant shots missing wide from the Golden Knights, they were also hampered by the Oilers’ willingness to block shots. Edmonton recorded 104 blocked shots in five games against Vegas. That combined with VGK’s elevated missed shot total, and it’s no surprise they went scoreless for the final six periods of the series.

It feels like a wasted year. -William Karlsson

It’s easy to pick on them now, just a few days after being eliminated from the playoffs. However, when it came down to big moments in the Second Round series,  the Golden Knights didn’t do what they were built to do. According to the front office, the 2024-25 Golden Knights had the depth, offensive weapons, and skill to compete for a second Stanley Cup. Several of those extended players were absent on the scoresheet.

It’s a game plan that everyone knows that it’s going to the net. Now you have to build that in, it doesn’t happen overnight, especially if you have guys who like to hang onto pucks and make plays. It’s personnel-driven too. We have to start looking at that as an avenue to create offense when things aren’t going well. When the going gets tough, this is a way to generate. -Bruce Cassidy

Defensemen Noah Hanifin and Shea Theodore are paid handsomely for their offensive abilities, sadly they combined for 3 points in five games. With the exception of a few superb defensive stands, both were severely limited. It looks much worse when you add in Theodore’s -7 for the series.

Offense is tough at this time of year. It’s not about scoring six or seven goals, it’s about scoring one more than your opponent. And scoring big goals. I think that’s where it comes down to, we weren’t able to get the overtime winner. You look at the Minnesota series we did. It’s more or less just getting the big goal, and we weren’t able to get it. – Mark Stone

Stone opened up about the team’s lack of offense, or more specifically, getting that one important goal. The elusive key scoring play that changed a game or the series. Reilly Smith had one in overtime of Game 3, but his club couldn’t build off of that potentially series-shifting score. Stone himself was part of the problem. After registering the first two goals of the series, the top-line winger went quiet.

Middle six skaters like Ivan Barbashev, Pavel Dorofeyev, and Brett Howden failed to provide any offense in the second round after playing major offensive factors in the Golden Knights regular season and in the previous round. Unfortunately, it was more missed wide shots and not enough quality chances.

Going into the next season, Vegas will need to find or identify that one confident weapon that will score in desperate situations. They’re tough to come by, and dare I remind everyone that VGK’s front office let one walk 320 days ago.