2020–21 Vegas Golden Knights season

2020–21 Vegas Golden Knights
Division	2nd West
2020–21 record	40–14–2
Home record	21–5–2
Road record	19–9–0
Goals for	191
Goals against	124
Team information
General manager	Kelly McCrimmon
Coach	Peter DeBoer
Captain	Mark Stone
Alternate captains	Alex Pietrangelo Reilly Smith
Arena	T-Mobile Arena
Minor league affiliate(s)	Henderson Silver Knights (AHL) Fort Wayne Komets (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Max Pacioretty (24)
Assists	Mark Stone (40)
Points	Mark Stone (61)
Penalty minutes	Jonathan Marchessault (39)
Plus/minus	Shea Theodore (+28)
Wins	Marc-Andre Fleury (26)
Goals against average	Marc-Andre Fleury (1.98)

The 2020–21 Vegas Golden Knights season was the fourth season for the National Hockey League franchise that started playing in the 2017–18 season. They play their home games at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. They made the playoffs for the fourth straight season after losing in the Conference Final to the Dallas Stars in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment the Golden Knights played this season in the West Division and only played games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season and potentially the first two rounds of the playoffs.

On April 21, the Golden Knights clinched a playoff berth after a 5–2 win over the San Jose Sharks. They were tied with the Colorado Avalanche for first in the league, as well as first in the West Division, but lost the chance to claim their first ever Presidents' Trophy because of a tiebreaker, as they finished with fewer regulation wins than Colorado. They eliminated the Minnesota Wild in the First Round, with a 6–2 victory. In the Second Round, the Golden Knights went on to defeat the Avalanche in six games. They faced the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Semifinals, but were defeated in six games.

Standings

Divisional standings

West Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	p – Colorado Avalanche	56	39	13	4	35	197	133	+64	82
2	x – Vegas Golden Knights	56	40	14	2	30	191	124	+67	82
3	x – Minnesota Wild	56	35	16	5	27	181	160	+21	75
4	x – St. Louis Blues	56	27	20	9	19	169	170	−1	63
5	e – Arizona Coyotes	56	24	26	6	19	153	176	−23	54
6	e – Los Angeles Kings	56	21	28	7	19	143	170	−27	49
7	e – San Jose Sharks	56	21	28	7	15	151	199	−48	49
8	e – Anaheim Ducks	56	17	30	9	11	126	179	−53	43

Schedule and results

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020.

2020–21 game log
January: 5–1–1 (Home: 4–0–1 ; Road: 1–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 January 14 Anaheim 2–5 Vegas Lehner 0 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 January 16 Anaheim 1–2 Vegas OT Fleury 0 2–0–0 4 Recap 3 January 18 Arizona 2–4 Vegas Lehner 0 3–0–0 6 Recap 4 January 20 Arizona 2–5 Vegas Fleury 0 4–0–0 8 Recap 5 January 22 Vegas 2–5 Arizona Lehner 2,712 4–1–0 8 Recap 6 January 24 Vegas 1–0 Arizona Fleury 2,672 5–1–0 10 Recap 7 January 26 St. Louis 5–4 Vegas SO Lehner 0 5–1–1 11 Recap — January 28 St. Louis – Vegas Postponed due to COVID-19. Makeup date March 22.
February: 7–3–0 (Home: 4–2–0 ; Road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap — February 1 Vegas – San Jose Postponed due to COVID-19. Makeup date February 13. — February 3 Vegas – San Jose Postponed due to COVID-19. Makeup date February 25. 8 February 5 Los Angeles 2–5 Vegas Fleury 0 6–1–1 13 Recap 9 February 7 Los Angeles 3–4 Vegas Lehner 0 7–1–1 15 Recap 10 February 9 Anaheim 4–5 Vegas Fleury 0 8–1–1 17 Recap 11 February 11 Anaheim 1–0 Vegas Fleury 0 8–2–1 17 Recap 12 February 13 Vegas 3–1 San Jose Fleury 0 9–2–1 19 Recap 13 February 14 Colorado 0–1 Vegas Fleury 0 10–2–1 21 Recap 14 February 16 Colorado 3–2 Vegas Fleury 0 10–3–1 21 Recap 15 February 20 Vegas 2–3 Colorado Fleury 0 10–4–1 21 Recap 16 February 22 Vegas 3–0 Colorado Fleury 0 11–4–1 23 Recap — February 25 Vegas – San Jose Postponed due to COVID-19. Makeup date May 12. 17 February 27 Vegas 3–2 Anaheim OT Fleury 0 12–4–1 25 Recap
March: 12–5–0 (Home: 6–1–0 ; Road: 6–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 18 March 1 Minnesota 4–5 Vegas OT Fleury 2,605 13–4–1 27 Recap 19 March 3 Minnesota 1–5 Vegas Fleury 2,610 14–4–1 29 Recap 20 March 5 Vegas 5–4 San Jose OT Dansk 0 15–4–1 31 Recap 21 March 6 Vegas 4–0 San Jose Fleury 0 16–4–1 33 Recap 22 March 8 Vegas 0–2 Minnesota Fleury 0 16–5–1 33 Recap 23 March 10 Vegas 3–4 Minnesota Fleury 0 16–6–1 33 Recap 24 March 12 Vegas 5–4 St. Louis OT Fleury — 17–6–1 35 Recap 25 March 13 Vegas 5–1 St. Louis Fleury — 18–6–1 37 Recap 26 March 15 San Jose 1–2 Vegas Fleury 3,473 19–6–1 39 Recap 27 March 17 San Jose 4–5 Vegas Fleury 3,473 20–6–1 41 Recap 28 March 19 Vegas 4–2 Los Angeles Lehner 0 21–6–1 43 Recap 29 March 21 Vegas 1–3 Los Angeles Fleury 0 21–7–1 43 Recap 30 March 22 St. Louis 1–5 Vegas Lehner 3,750 22–7–1 45 Recap 31 March 25 Vegas 1–5 Colorado Fleury 0 22–8–1 45 Recap 32 March 27 Vegas 3–2 Colorado OT Fleury 0 23–8–1 47 Recap 33 March 29 Los Angeles 1–4 Vegas Lehner 3,950 24–8–1 49 Recap 34 March 31 Los Angeles 4–2 Vegas Fleury 3,950 24–9–1 49 Recap
April: 11–3–1 (Home: 5–1–1 ; Road: 6–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 35 April 1 Minnesota 3–2 Vegas SO Lehner 3,950 24–9–2 50 Recap 36 April 3 Minnesota 2–1 Vegas Fleury 3,950 24–10–2 50 Recap 37 April 5 Vegas 6–1 St. Louis Lehner — 25–10–2 52 Recap 38 April 7 Vegas 1–3 St. Louis Fleury — 25–11–2 52 Recap 39 April 9 Arizona 4–7 Vegas Lehner 3,950 26–11–2 54 Recap 40 April 11 Arizona 0–1 Vegas Fleury 3,950 27–11–2 56 Recap 41 April 12 Vegas 4–2 Los Angeles Lehner 0 28–11–2 58 Recap 42 April 14 Vegas 6–2 Los Angeles Fleury 0 29–11–2 60 Recap 43 April 16 Vegas 4–0 Anaheim Lehner 1,717 30–11–2 62 Recap 44 April 18 Vegas 5–2 Anaheim Fleury 1,717 31–11–2 64 Recap 45 April 19 San Jose 2–3 Vegas SO Lehner 3,950 32–11–2 66 Recap 46 April 21 San Jose 2–5 Vegas Fleury 3,950 33–11–2 68 Recap 47 April 24 Vegas 5–1 Anaheim Lehner 1,717 34–11–2 70 Recap 48 April 28 Colorado 2–5 Vegas Fleury 3,950 35–11–2 72 Recap 49 April 30 Vegas 0–3 Arizona Lehner 5,111 35–12–2 72 Recap
May: 5–2–0 (Home: 2–1–0 ; Road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 50 May 1 Vegas 3–2 Arizona OT Fleury 5,671 36–12–2 74 Recap 51 May 3 Vegas 5–6 Minnesota Lehner 3,000 36–13–2 74 Recap 52 May 5 Vegas 3–2 Minnesota OT Fleury 3,000 37–13–2 76 Recap 53 May 7 St. Louis 3–4 Vegas OT Lehner 7,567 38–13–2 78 Recap 54 May 8 St. Louis 1–4 Vegas Fleury 7,567 39–13–2 80 Recap 55 May 10 Colorado 2–1 Vegas Lehner 7,567 39–14–2 80 Recap 56 May 12 Vegas 6–0 San Jose Fleury 1,654 40–14–2 82 Recap
Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)       Postponement

Playoffs

2021 Stanley Cup playoffs
West Division First Round vs. (W3) Minnesota Wild: Vegas won 4–3 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 16 Minnesota 1–0 Vegas OT Fleury 8,683 0–1 Recap 2 May 18 Minnesota 1–3 Vegas Fleury 8,683 1–1 Recap 3 May 20 Vegas 5–2 Minnesota Fleury 4,500 2–1 Recap 4 May 22 Vegas 4–0 Minnesota Fleury 4,500 3–1 Recap 5 May 24 Minnesota 4–2 Vegas Fleury 12,156 3–2 Recap 6 May 26 Vegas 0–3 Minnesota Fleury 4,500 3–3 Recap 7 May 28 Minnesota 2–6 Vegas Fleury 12,156 4–3 Recap West Division Second Round vs. (W1) Colorado Avalanche: Vegas won 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 30 Vegas 1–7 Colorado Lehner 10,489 0–1 Recap 2 June 2 Vegas 2–3 Colorado OT Fleury 10,491 0–2 Recap 3 June 4 Colorado 2–3 Vegas Fleury 17,504 1–2 Recap 4 June 6 Colorado 1–5 Vegas Fleury 18,081 2–2 Recap 5 June 8 Vegas 3–2 Colorado OT Fleury 10,495 3–2 Recap 6 June 10 Colorado 3–6 Vegas Fleury 18,149 4–2 Recap Stanley Cup Semifinals vs. (N4) Montreal Canadiens: Montreal won 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 June 14 Montreal 1–4 Vegas Fleury 17,884 1–0 Recap 2 June 16 Montreal 3–2 Vegas Fleury 17,920 1–1 Recap 3 June 18 Vegas 2–3 Montreal OT Fleury 3,500 1–2 Recap 4 June 20 Vegas 2–1 Montreal OT Lehner 3,500 2–2 Recap 5 June 22 Montreal 4–1 Vegas Fleury 17,969 2–3 Recap 6 June 24 Vegas 2–3 Montreal OT Lehner 3,500 2–4 Recap
Legend:       Win       Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Stone, MarkMark Stone 55 21 40 61 +26 28 Pacioretty, MaxMax Pacioretty 48 24 27 51 +20 14 Marchessault, JonathanJonathan Marchessault 55 18 26 44 +19 39 Theodore, SheaShea Theodore 53 8 34 42 +28 14 Karlsson, WilliamWilliam Karlsson 56 14 25 39 +19 4 Stephenson, ChandlerChandler Stephenson 51 14 21 35 +22 29 Tuch, AlexAlex Tuch 55 18 15 33 +16 28 Martinez, AlecAlec Martinez 53 9 23 32 +26 12 Smith, ReillyReilly Smith 53 14 11 25 +10 18 Pietrangelo, AlexAlex Pietrangelo 41 7 16 23 +20 16 Nosek, TomasTomas Nosek 38 8 10 18 +7 10 Hague, NicolasNicolas Hague 52 5 12 17 +14 31 Carrier, WilliamWilliam Carrier 52 6 9 15 0 16 Roy, NicolasNicolas Roy 50 6 9 15 +9 14 Kolesar, KeeganKeegan Kolesar 44 3 9 12 −4 30 Whitecloud, ZachZach Whitecloud 51 2 10 12 +9 24 Glass, CodyCody Glass 27 4 6 10 +6 8 McNabb, BraydenBrayden McNabb 41 2 6 8 +10 16 Coghlan, DylanDylan Coghlan 29 3 3 6 −3 2 Janmark, MattiasMattias Janmark † || 15 || 1 || 4 || 5 || +5 || 2 Reaves, RyanRyan Reaves 37 1 4 5 0 27 Sikura, DylanDylan Sikura 6 2 0 2 0 0 Holden, NickNick Holden 17 0 2 2 +3 2 Krebs, PeytonPeyton Krebs 4 0 1 1 +1 0 Jurco, TomasTomas Jurco 8 0 1 1 0 0 Brown, PatrickPatrick Brown 4 0 0 0 0 2

Playoffs Player GP G A Pts +/− PIM Karlsson, WilliamWilliam Karlsson 19 4 12 16 +10 2 Pietrangelo, AlexAlex Pietrangelo 19 4 8 12 +8 18 Pacioretty, MaxMax Pacioretty 13 5 6 11 +6 4 Smith, ReillyReilly Smith 19 3 7 10 +7 4 Theodore, SheaShea Theodore 19 1 9 10 +7 10 Marchessault, JonathanJonathan Marchessault 19 6 3 9 +8 12 Tuch, AlexAlex Tuch 19 4 5 9 +6 6 Roy, NicolasNicolas Roy 19 4 5 9 −2 8 Stone, MarkMark Stone 19 5 3 8 +2 0 Janmark, MattiasMattias Janmark 16 4 4 8 +1 0 Holden, NickNick Holden 15 2 5 7 +2 0 Martinez, AlecAlec Martinez 19 4 2 6 +1 9 Stephenson, ChandlerChandler Stephenson 16 0 6 6 +8 0 McNabb, BraydenBrayden McNabb 13 1 3 4 +5 0 Whitecloud, ZachZach Whitecloud 19 1 3 4 +3 16 Kolesar, KeeganKeegan Kolesar 17 1 3 4 −2 4 Carrier, WilliamWilliam Carrier 19 1 2 3 −1 8 Brown, PatrickPatrick Brown 12 2 0 2 −2 0 Hague, NicolasNicolas Hague 10 1 1 2 +2 6 Nosek, TomasTomas Nosek 6 0 1 1 −2 4 Reaves, RyanRyan Reaves 12 0 1 1 +1 16 Sikura, DylanDylan Sikura 2 0 0 0 0 0 Glass, CodyCody Glass 1 0 0 0 −1 0

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Fleury, Marc-AndreMarc-Andre Fleury	36	36	2,146:36	26	10	0	71	1.98	989	.928	6	0	1	2
Lehner, RobinRobin Lehner	19	19	1,155:19	13	4	2	44	2.29	505	.913	1	0	1	0
Dansk, OscarOscar Dansk	1	1	61:25	1	0	0	4	3.91	29	.862	0	0	0	0
Thompson, LoganLogan Thompson	1	0	8:15	0	0	0	0	0.00	2	1.000	0	0	0	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Fleury, Marc-AndreMarc-Andre Fleury	16	16	972:52	9	7	33	2.04	403	.918	1	0	1	0
Lehner, RobinRobin Lehner	3	3	182:27	1	2	11	3.62	97	.887	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Golden Knights. Stats reflect time with the Golden Knights only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Golden Knights only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Draft picks

See also: List of Vegas Golden Knights draft picks

Below are the Vegas Golden Knights' selections at the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, which was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The draft was held virtually via video conference call on October 6–7, 2020, from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	29	Brendan Brisson	C	United States	Chicago Steel (USHL)
3	68	Lukas Cormier	D	Canada	Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL)
3	91	Jackson Hallum	C	United States	St. Thomas Academy (Minnesota)
6	184	Noah Ellis	D	United States	Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)
7	215	Maxim Marushev	C	Russia	Bars Kazan (VHL)

Current roster

Vegas Golden Knights roster Updated July 25, 2020

#	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
38	United States	Brown, PatrickPatrick Brown	4.0 C	R	32	2019	Bloomfield Hills, Michigan
28	Canada	Carrier, WilliamWilliam Carrier	6.0 LW	L	30	2017	LaSalle, Quebec
52	Canada	Coghlan, DylanDylan Coghlan	2.0 D	L	26	2017	Nanaimo, British Columbia
21	Canada	Cousins, NickNick Cousins	4.0 C	L	31	2020	Belleville, Ontario
35	Sweden	Dansk, OscarOscar Dansk	1.0 G	L	31	2017	Stockholm, Sweden
37	Canada	Duke, ReidReid Duke	4.0 C	R	29	2017	Calgary, Alberta
5	Canada	Engelland, DerykDeryk Engelland  (A)	2.0 D	R	42	2017	Edmonton, Alberta
29	Canada	Fleury, Marc-AndreMarc-Andre Fleury	1.0 G	L	40	2017	Sorel-Tracy, Quebec
14	Canada	Hague, NicolasNicolas Hague	2.0 D	L	26	2017	Kitchener, Ontario
22	Canada	Holden, NickNick Holden	2.0 D	L	37	2018	St. Albert, Alberta
71	Sweden	Karlsson, WilliamWilliam Karlsson	4.0 C	L	31	2017	Märsta, Sweden
55	Canada	Kolesar, KeeganKeegan Kolesar	7.0 RW	R	27	2017	Brandon, Manitoba
18	Canada	Krebs, PeytonPeyton Krebs	4.0 C	L	24	2019	Calgary, Alberta
90	Sweden	Lehner, RobinRobin Lehner	1.0 G	L	33	2020	Göteborg, Sweden
81	Canada	Marchessault, JonathanJonathan Marchessault	4.0 C	R	34	2017	Cap-Rouge, Quebec
23	United States	Martinez, AlecAlec Martinez	2.0 D	L	37	2020	Rochester Hills, Michigan
3	Canada	McNabb, BraydenBrayden McNabb	2.0 D	L	34	2017	Davidson, Saskatchewan
15	United States	Merrill, JonJon Merrill	2.0 D	L	33	2017	Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
92	Czech Republic	Nosek, TomasTomas Nosek	4.0 C	L	32	2017	Pardubice, Czechoslovakia
67	United States	Pacioretty, MaxMax Pacioretty  (A)	6.0 LW	L	36	2018	New Canaan, Connecticut
72	United States	Quinney, GageGage Quinney	6.2 LW/C	L	29	2018	Las Vegas, Nevada
75	Canada	Reaves, RyanRyan Reaves	7.0 RW	R	38	2018	Winnipeg, Manitoba
10	Canada	Roy, NicolasNicolas Roy	7.0 RW	R	28	2019	Amos, Quebec
88	United States	Schmidt, NateNate Schmidt	2.0 D	L	33	2017	St. Cloud, Minnesota
19	Canada	Smith, ReillyReilly Smith  (A)	7.0 RW	L	33	2017	Etobicoke, Ontario
26	United States	Stastny, PaulPaul Stastny	4.0 C	L	39	2018	Quebec City, Quebec
20	Canada	Stephenson, ChandlerChandler Stephenson	4.0 C	L	30	2019	Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
61	Canada	Stone, MarkMark Stone  (A)	7.0 RW	R	32	2019	Winnipeg, Manitoba
27	Canada	Theodore, SheaShea Theodore	2.0 D	L	29	2017	Langley, British Columbia
89	United States	Tuch, AlexAlex Tuch	7.0 RW	R	28	2017	Syracuse, New York
2	Canada	Whitecloud, ZachZach Whitecloud	2.0 D	R	28	2018	Brandon, Manitoba