(Photo Credit: @NHLPR on X/Twitter)
It’s been a while since the Golden Knights have gotten off to anything but a rousing start to the season. Each of the last five years, Vegas has won at least nine of their first 15 games, and in three of them, they reached double digits. This year’s team is the first one since 2018-19 (Year 2) in which the team has lost more games than they’ve won in the first 15.
Record Through 15 Games
25-26: 7-4-4, 18 points
24-25: 9-4-2, 20 points
23-24: 12-2-1, 25 points
22-23: 13-2-0, 26 points
21-22: 9-6-0, 18 points *Coach fired after season*
20-21: 10-4-1, 21 points
19-20: 8-5-2, 18 points *Coach Fired Midseason*
18-19: 6-8-1, 13 points
17-18: 9-5-1, 19 points
Even more concerning is the record at home, which has taken a major hit on this 1-3-1 homestand. It ends with a final game against the Islanders on Thursday. VGK’s 4-3-2 record is tied with the 2019-20 (Year 3) for the worst ever.
Home Record In First 9 Home Games
25-26: 4-3-2
24-25: 8-1-0
23-24: 7-1-1
22-23: 6-3-0
21-22: 5-4-0 *Coach fired after season*
20-21: 8-2-1
19-20: 4-3-2 *Coach Fired Midseason*
18-19: 5-2-1
17-18: 8-1-0
As unfamiliar as this is to the Golden Knights, it’s even more unfamiliar to Bruce Cassidy.
Cassidy Teams Record After 15 Games
25-26: 7-4-4, 18 points
24-25: 9-4-2, 20 points
23-24: 12-2-1, 25 points
22-23: 13-2-0, 26 points
21-22: 9-6-0, 18 points *Fired at end of season*
20-21: 10-3-2, 22 points
19-20: 11-2-2, 24 points
18-19: 8-5-2, 18 points
17-18: 6-5-4, 16 points
03-04: 3-11-1, 7 points *Fired after 28 games*
02-03: 8-6-1, 17 points
Cassidy’s teams have reached the playoffs each of the previous nine seasons, and only once have his teams failed to win more games than they’ve lost in his first 15 games. In Cassidy’s first season in Boston, the team started 6-7-4 and was in 27th place in the NHL after six weeks. Then, they ripped off 43 wins in their next 60 games to finish with 112 points, ahead of the inaugural season Golden Knights.
All of this isn’t to say the sky is falling in Vegas after the 7-4-4 start. It’s not. The Golden Knights still hold a .600 points percentage, which would be plenty good enough to qualify for the playoffs. In fact, no team in modern NHL history has ever failed to reach the playoffs with at least a .600 points percentage.
What this is saying, though, is that they are on much thinner ice than they’re used to at this point. The last few seasons, VGK have experienced what we’ve dubbed a “midseason malaise.” Last year’s team went 11-11-5 from January to mid-March. The year before, they went 12-17-2 from mid-December to early March. And even the Stanley Cup champion team was 16-16-4 after the nearly perfect 13-2-0 start.
There’s a reasonable chance that when the Golden Knights hit the ice next, they’ll be on the outside of the playoff cut line looking in. It’s a long season, and playoff spots aren’t awarded in November, but there’s no denying the fact that the pressure ramps up on teams with high expectations that aren’t in the position they believe they should be.
This team will feel it.
They need to start channelling it into better results soon.
