SinBin.vegas

Praise Be To Foley, Vegas Golden Knights Hockey Website

Tag: Thanksgiving

VGK Sneaks Past Second Benchmark Of The Season But Trending In Wrong Direction

By

On November 29, 2025

In Team Ops

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

November in the NHL tends to separate the contenders and the rebuilders. This season many more teams have made it through the month with the belief that they can make a postseason run. This gives Vegas a lot less wiggle room this season than they are used to.

Western Conference Outlook At Thanksgiving

  1. Colorado Avalanche: 17-1-5 (39 Points)
  2. Dallas Stars: 15-5-4 (34 Points)
  3. Minnesota Wild: 12-7-4 (30 Points)
  4. Anaheim Ducks: 14-8-1 (29 Points)
  5. Seattle Kraken: 11-6-6 (28 Points)
  6. Los Angeles Kings: 11-6-6 (28 Points)
  7. Vegas Golden Knights: 10-5-8 (28 Points)
  8. Utah Mammoth: 12-9-3 (27 Points)

For the believers in the Thanksgiving benchmark, you’ll be glad to know that the Golden Knights are still currently in a postseason position. Sure, it’s not a glamorous record, but nevertheless, Vegas is in. However, the 2023 Stanley Cup champions are trending in the wrong direction. With back-to-back defeats at home, Vegas is now behind LA and Seattle. Two teams that trailed VGK on Turkey Day.

When you compare the current team to the last five, there’s one thing that stands out. The Golden Knights have a staggering eight overtime losses by Thanksgiving. That’s more OTL’s than the last three November holidays combined.

Read More

What VGK Fans Can Be Thankful For So Far In 25-26

By

On November 27, 2025

In Team Ops

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s been a bit of a slow start for the Golden Knights in the win column, but they sit with a .609 points percentage good enough for 2nd place. Three straight losses and 11 in the last 16 have many feeling kind of down. However, there’s plenty to be thankful for so far this season.

  • Mark Stone’s restored health
  • Loser points
  • The emergence of Braeden Bowman
  • Alex Nedeljkovic
  • The power play sequence of Eichel to Stone to Dorofeyev
  • The Pacific Division
  • Pavel Dorofeyev’s shot release
  • Flamingos
  • Alec Martinez on the pregame show
  • The McNabb/Theodore pairing
  • Bruce Cassidy’s defensive system
  • Dave Rogowski’s dominant challenge record
  • The pregame video where the other Golden Knight takes his helmet off and it’s a player
  • xG models
  • Cole Reinhardt’s ability to draw penalties
  • Mitch Marner’s pregame skating routine
Order Giordano's

VGK Easily Passes November 1st Benchmark

By

On November 1, 2025

In Team Ops

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Once again, the Golden Knights have positioned themselves in a playoff spot at the end of October. In four seasons under coach Bruce Cassidy, Vegas is an astounding 30-7-5 in the opening month of the season. Year after year, the Cassidy-led Golden Knights have essentially put themselves on a smooth path to the postseason. Sure, there have been some tough stretches. (Remember that brutal stretch last January?) However, the Golden Knights’ great early success has made it a much easier path to the ultimate finish line.

VGK’s October Points Percentage Under Cassidy

  • 2022-23: .800 (8-2-0)
  • 2023-24: .950 (9-0-1)
  • 2024-25: .682 (7-3-1)
  • 2025-26: .682 (6-2-3)

Surprisingly, the last two Octobers were Vegas’ worst, if you want to call it that, under Cassidy. The coach could argue he was hampered by injuries to key players last month, but his club still sits in first place in the Pacific Division on November 1st. So far this season, the Golden Knights have seen injuries to a top defenseman, their captain, and the starting goaltender. Nevertheless, the 2023 Stanley Cup champions are in a much better situation than some of their Western Conference opponents.

You know that I keep a stat, it’s November 1st. In the salary cap era, full seasons, there’s been 72 teams four points or more out of the playoffs after games on November 1st. Out of those 72, only ten have made it. You can’t wait until American Thanksgiving anymore. If you’re more than four points out by November 1st, you’ve got a one in seven chance of making it. Fourteen percent. –Elliotte Friedman, 32 Thoughts

Unfortunately for teams like the Calgary Flames, Minnesota Wild, St. Louis Blues, and San Jose Sharks are on pace to be hitting the links by mid-April. The Golden Knights on the other hand have a 93.4% to make the postseason according to MoneyPuck.com. Heck, they even predict Vegas having close to a 10% chance of winning their second Stanley Cup trophy.

Read More

Happy Thanksgiving!

By

On November 23, 2023

In Team Ops

The Golden Knights are in playoff position on Thanksgiving.

 

Order Giordano's

VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS 4 OTTAWA SENATORS (16-4-1, 33 PTS)

By

On November 23, 2022

In Team Ops

The Golden Knights returned home from Western Canada for a Thanksgiving eve matchup against the Ottawa Senators. Former Senator Mark Stone gave his current team a 1-0 advantage with a 1st period power play goal. Ottawa scored on the PP as well locking in a 1-1 tie after the opening twenty minutes.

This season’s most surprising player William Carrier weaved in and out through Ottawa’s defense to regain the lead for Vegas late in the middle frame. Carrier’s 7th goal of the season made it 2-1 Vegas after two periods.

William Karlsson didn’t wait long in the final period to add more offense. Karlsson roofed a backhanded shot past the Senators goalie, taking a two goal edge. In the final minutes, Jack Eichel scored a long-distance empty netter to seal Vegas’ victory.

The Golden Knights record improves to (16-4-1) defeating the senators 4-1. Vegas will next face Seattle on Friday evening from The Fortress. Puck drop against the Kraken is scheduled for 5P PT. (Recap by Jason)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

(Analysis/Tweets by Kevin Iole @KevinI)

Order Giordano's

November Notes: Cassidy And VGK Match Thanksgiving Success

By

On November 3, 2022

In Team Ops

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

Tonight, in Ottawa the Golden Knights continue a challenging five-game eastern conference road trip. This is the first extended journey for Vegas this season. Up until now, the Pacific Division leader’s longest road trip was a two-game trip to Seattle and Calgary. It’s possible the Golden Knights are fortunate to go on a cross-coast so early in the season. Normally, lengthy road trips allow a chance for players to bond and go through the grind together. Five cities in ten days against teams all with a .500 winning% or higher will help grow chemistry.

With the exception of the 2020-21 shortened season, the Golden Knights annually take an early season trek to the east coast for a handful of games. Here are the results from the previous five seasons.

VGK’s First Extended Road Trip Of The Season

  • 2021-22: (2-2-0) – L 4-0 @TOR, W 5-1 @OTT, W 5-2 @MTL, L 5-2 @DET
  • 2020-21: (2-1-0) – L 3-2 @COL, W 3-0 @COL, W 3-2 @ANA
  • 2019-20: (1-2-1) – W 2-1 @CBJ, OTL 2-1 @TOR, L 5-2 @WAS, L 3-2 @DET
  • 2018-19: (2-3-0) – W 2-1 @MIN, L 4-2 @BUF, L 5-2 @WAS, L 4-2 @PIT, W 1-0 @PHI
  • 2017-18: (1-4-1) – L 6-3 @NYI, L 6-4 @NYR, L 2-1 @BOS, W 5-4 @OTT, SOL 3-2 @TOR, L 3-2 @MTL

Traditionally this road trip hasn’t been kind to the Golden Knights. Defeating the Capitals 3-2 in Washington was a good start for the Golden Knights, considering they’ve lost their opening matchup four out of five years. Since the opening season Vegas has combined for only 18 of 42 points on their early November trips. The 2017-18 club struggled to the point that former coach Gerard Gallant made his now infamous “we’re not an expansion team” speech after losing to the NY Rangers at Madison Square Garden.

Read More

Valentine’s Day Is The New Thanksgiving

By

On February 15, 2021

In Team Ops

(Photo Credit: SinBin.vegas Photographer Brandon Andreasen)

If you’ve ever followed an NHL season, a regular one, you’ve probably heard about the importance of Thanksgiving as it relates to the standings. The story goes that if you are in the playoffs on Thanksgiving, you’ll probably be there when the season ends in April.

It seems absurdly early, but history has bore it out pretty well. Just about every year 13 to 14 of the 16 teams above the playoff cut line on Thanksgiving stay there when the season ends.

This year, the schedule is much shorter and the season started later, which means we need a new Thanksgiving. As it turns out, Valentine’s Day fits pretty well.

Thanksgiving typically lands about 380 games into the 1271 game NHL season. That’s about 30%. This year, 30% of the season is around 260 games. Last night’s VGK game was Game 243 on the schedule. Sure, it’s a little short, but the chances of the NHL getting 56 games in for every team feels low. So, I’m declaring Valentine’s Day the new Thanksgiving.

Vegas currently sits atop the West Division despite having played two fewer games than the team in 2nd (St. Louis). The Golden Knights are also seven points clear of the cut line and have a game-in-hand on the team currently in 5th (Arizona). 10-2-1 is good for a .808 points percentage, tied with Tampa Bay for the best in the entire NHL.

However you slice it, the Golden Knights are in incredibly good shape early in the 2021 season. The schedule gets a little tougher with 25 of the remaining 43 games on the road and 14 games still left to play against Colorado and St. Louis, but the cushion the Golden Knights have already built eases any concerns.

Every year a team or two falls out between Thanksgiving and Easter and that will certainly happen to someone between now and mid-May. However, I’d feel pretty confident in saying the Golden Knights are the least likely of any team to suffer that fate based on where they currently sit in the standings.

So, Happy Thanksgiving, Happy Valentine’s Day, the Golden Knights are going to the playoffs again!

Order Giordano's

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén