Recap: The Golden Knights were looking to bounce back with a victory in Columbus. The home team took the opening lead of the game five minutes into the first period. Late in the frame Tomas Hertl answered back and tied the game with his 5th goal of the season. After 20 minutes, the game was locked in a 1-1 tie.
Neither team found the back of the net in the final two frames to preserve the 1-1 score after regulation.
Columbus earned an early power play in overtime and took advantage.
The Golden Knights record drops to 8-4-1, falling to the Blue Jackets 2-1 in OT.
Next up, Vegas will return home for a two-game set against two Eastern Conference opponents beginning on Tuesday night. Puck drop against the Ottawa Senators is scheduled for 7 PM. (Recap by Jason)
Analysis: VGK’s red-hot offense to start the season has cooled off in a hurry and it now has them on a three-game losing streak. Through two periods, the Blue Jackets probably had the better of the chances, in the 3rd though VGK picked it up and could have easily had one or two goals. Defensively, the effort was a lot better but against one of the worst offensive teams in the league. The lone bright spot was Trevor Connelly moving up to the top line and looking more than capable with Eichel and Stone. Will be interesting to see if that sticks moving forward. (Analysis by Ken)
There was some noise this summer that the Golden Knights may have had interest in former Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. No one from the organization hinted, leaned, or even suggested the desire to upgrade their goaltending position. However, when a Hart, Vezina, and U.S. Gold Medalist becomes available, every Stanley Cup contender should check in. Carter Hart and Adin Hill can officially put any lingering anxiety or stress behind them, if they had any to begin with.
Yesterday, Winnipeg shipped Hellebuyck to New Jersey for a haul of NHL players, a highly rated prospect and multiple picks. Now with the highly anticipated trade done, goaltenders across the league can take a deep breath. Including VGK’s tandem that is currently 19th in the NHL for team save percentage.
Although Vegas is one point out for first place in the division, they trail three other Pacific teams in save percentage.
Pacific Division Team Save Percentage
San Jose Sharks – .896
Seattle Kraken – .896
Los Angeles Kings – .888
Vegas Golden Knights – .885
Edmonton Oilers – .883
Anaheim Ducks – .883
Calgary Flames – .864
Vancouver Canucks – .863
The league average for team save percentage is currently .892. So, Vegas’ goaltending unit is only a few points away from where most of the league lies. Plus, they are outscoring their opponents 46 to 36 through 12 games. However, the Golden Knights’ current goal support hasn’t been enough for their goaltenders to overcome. In back-to-back games, Vegas scored two goals and allowed six. So far, Hart and Hill have had to fend for themselves four separate occasions this season when their teammates can only muster two or less goals. As we all know, two goals are not enough to win in today’s NHL.
For the past six seasons, league save percentage has decreased year-after-year. It’s not necessarily a dig on NHL goaltenders, but it’s a sign that NHL shooters have become more accurate (plus the league is counting fewer shots).
(Image Credit: ESPN.com)
Since entering the NHL, Hart and Hill have identical .904 career save percentages. Also, both have allowed fewer than three goals per game. This season, the goalie tandem has been letting in 2.91 goals per game, but the average is slowly increasing. The Golden Knights have allowed 4+ goals on four separate occasions and have lost each game.
Last year’s regular season wasn’t pretty between the pipes. The Golden Knights ended the season with a .879 save percentage, 17 points lower than the league average. However, during Vegas’ deep run to the Stanley Cup Final, Hart boosted his save percentage to .909 in 22 postseason games. It’s a no-brainer. If either goaltender can deliver that kind of success again, no one will care what his save percentage looked like over 84 games.
A power-play goal allowed in each of their last four games marks the Golden Knights’ longest such streak since surrendering one in five straight early last season. Five PP goals allowed in four games is also the worst penalty killing stretch since December 2023, when VGK allowed nine in four games.
The Golden Knights’ penalty kill now sits at a miserable 67.9%, the 5th worst mark in the league. They’ve killed just three of the last eight power plays they’ve faced.
I think our kill’s got to be way better. I mean, if we kill that, maybe we get some momentum in the game and instead they score. And they got another one in the 3rd. So, you know, that needs to sharpen up, and we’ll look at it. We’ll get better. -Brayden McNabb
McNabb was on the ice for both power play goals against last night and has been out there for seven of the nine VGK have allowed this season.
Recap: The Golden Knights were looking to bounce back with a victory over the Blues in St. Louis. The home team took the opening lead of the game at the midway point of the first period. Minutes later, the Blues scored to take a 2-0 lead into the intermission.
Vegas’ Brett Howden cut the Blues’ lead in half with his 5th goal of the season. St. Louis regained their two-goal lead moments later.
Quickly into the final frame, Jack Eichel cut St. Louis’ advantage to one. The Blues took back their two-goal edge several shifts later. St. Louis scored a couple more to push the lead to 6-2.
The Golden Knights record drops to 8-4-0, falling to the Blues 6-2 in St. Louis. Next up, Vegas will visit Columbus for a matchup on Saturday night. Puck drop against the Blue Jackets is scheduled for 4PM PT. (Recap by Jason)
Analysis: Probably the worst defensive game of the season for the Golden Knights. They struggled with puck support all night long and it left tons of space for St. Louis to operate. It’s not like the Golden Knights didn’t get chances; they just didn’t get nearly as many as the Blues did. Once again, Hill does well for most of the game, but allows one that simply can’t go in that was the back-breaker. (Analysis by Ken)
The 2026-27 NHL season is only a few weeks old, but the Pacific Division is already back to its losing ways. While the division is guaranteed three playoff spots, only the Golden Knights and Oilers would qualify under a one-through-eight conference format.
Money Puck’s Early Playoff Odds – Pacific Division Teams
Vegas Golden Knights – 93.9%
Edmonton Oilers – 88.7%
Los Angeles Kings – 42.9%
Seattle Kraken – 34.5%
Anaheim Ducks – 31.8%
San Jose Sharks – 25.7%
Calgary Flames – 5.7%
Vancouver Canucks – 2.7%
When combining the bottom six Pacific teams, you get a dreadful .401 points percentage, which equates to a crummy 70-point lottery team. Last season, the Vancouver Canucks ended the season with a .354 points percentage; there’s a strong chance a Pacific team will finish even lower.
Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, powered by MGA Law, our new podcast with Ryan The Hockey Guy, is back for Episode 3. The show airs weekly on Wednesdays throughout the 2026-27 season.
Tonight’s show will air at 7 PM on YouTube, X/Twitter, and Facebook.
Bad call? Challenge it. MGA Law. Call 702-702-6928 or visit mgalaw.com.
Recap: The Golden Knights were looking for their fourth straight win with a victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa took the lead in the opening five minutes of the game. Ivan Barbashev tied the game later in the period after scoring his first goal of the season. The Lightning regained their lead but Mark Stone tied the game at 2-2 before the break.
Tampa scored three consecutive goals in the middle frame to take a 5-2 lead after 40 minutes of action. Antony Cirelli had a pair and Victor Hedman added one more.
The Lightning forced a turnover at the blue line which created a successful breakaway for the visiting team which Nikita Kucherov buried.
The Golden Knights record falls to 8-3-0 after a 6-3 loss to the Lightning at T-Mobile Arena. Next up, Vegas will travel to St. Louis on Thursday night. Puck drop against the Blues is scheduled for 5 PM. (Recap by Jason)
Analysis: It isn’t often that a game comes down to one goalie outperforming the other by enough to cause a multi-goal difference, but that was the case in this game. Carter Hart certainly wasn’t to blame for every one of the six Tampa goals, but Vasilevskiy stopped a bunch that wouldn’t have been his fault if they went in. The Golden Knights defense did not have their finest game either, but at least on this night, it was as simple as goalie vs goalie. (Analysis by Ken)
