There’s probably not a single person visiting this site who isn’t already aware of how dominant the Golden Knights’ penalty kill has been through nine games in the postseason. However, you may not have even been able to wrap your head around just how impressive it has been thus far.
First, the obvious. The VGK PK has killed an incredible 21 consecutive power plays dating back to the Game 3 goal scored by Utah’s Dylan Guenther. That’s six consecutive games spanning 41:26 of time on the kill.
During this year’s regular season, VGK never went more than four games or 12 power plays in a row without conceding. Dating back further, the last time Vegas killed every penalty for six straight games was in April of 2022 but they only killed 7 penalties in that span. The last time they killed 21 or more straight penalties was in the shortened 2021 season when they successfully went unscathed on 22 consecutive power plays over an eight-game span.
The last time VGK killed every penalty for six straight playoff games were the final games of the 2023 postseason, culminating in hoisting the Stanley Cup. That year, Vegas killed the last 17 power plays of the postseason, including all 14 in the Cup Final against Florida. That is the only other run that lasted more than six games in VGK’s 115-game postseason history.
Zooming out a bit more, it gets even more amazing.
This postseason, the Golden Knights have killed a total of 26 of 27 power plays for a PK% of 96.3%. That alone ranks 10th all-time for the best penalty killing percentage in a single postseason. All nine teams with a better mark finished their playoff runs with a perfect 100% kill, however, all of them played fewer than eight games, and none of them killed more than 22 penalties.
Now, let’s add the even more impressive stat to the bunch. During this historic run, not only have the Golden Knights killed 21 straight, they’ve also scored three shorthanded goals. They are one of just 101 teams to ever score three shorties in the same postseason. However, it gets even crazier. Vegas’ goal differential on the power play is +2 with three shorthanded goals scored and just one goal allowed. No team in NHL history has finished a postseason with a +2 mark, and just four teams have ever finished with a plus number since 1976 (when PK stats began to be counted).
Finally, there’s a stat called “net penalty kill percentage” which counts a shorthanded goal as a successful kill. So, if a team goes 4 for 5 on the PK and scores one shorty, they have a penalty kill of 80%, but their net percentage is 100%. VGK have a net percentage of 107.4% (29 of 27). The only team ever to complete a postseason with a better mark was the 1984 Winnipeg Jets, who scored one shorthanded goal while killing eight penalties (9 for 8) for a 112.5% mark. They played just three postseason games.
Of course, all of these stats are considered for teams that finished their postseasons; VGK are still very much alive. However, it shows just how insanely consistent and dominant the Vegas penalty kill has been to this point. Even if they allow five goals on the next five power plays, they’ll still only drop to a net percentage of 90.6%.
This is the most epic penalty kill run a Golden Knights team has ever been on and it’s one of the best in the history of the league. Enjoy it while it lasts because we may never see anything close to it ever again.
Adding Reilly Smith has been a big help for the VGK penalty kill, but they’ve also made a tweak to the system that is paying dividends as well.