2019–20 Vegas Golden Knights season

2019–20 Vegas Golden Knights
Pacific Division Champions
Division	1st Pacific
Conference	3rd Western
2019–20 record	39–24–8
Home record	22–11–4
Road record	17–13–4
Goals for	227
Goals against	211
Team information
General Manager	Kelly McCrimmon
Coach	Gerard Gallant (Oct. 2 – Jan. 15) Peter DeBoer (Jan. 15 – Sept. 14)
Captain	Vacant
Alternate captains	Deryk Engelland Max Pacioretty Reilly Smith Mark Stone
Arena	T-Mobile Arena
Minor league affiliations	Chicago Wolves (AHL) Fort Wayne Komets (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Max Pacioretty (32)
Assists	Mark Stone (42)
Points	Max Pacioretty (66)
Penalties in minutes	Ryan Reaves (47)
Plus/minus	Chandler Stephenson (+19)
Wins	Marc-André Fleury (27)
Goals against average	Robin Lehner (1.67)
<2018–19	2020–21>

The 2019–20 Vegas Golden Knights season was the third season for the National Hockey League franchise that started playing in the 2017–18 season. They played their home games at T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. They made the playoffs for the third straight season after losing in the first round of the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs to the San Jose Sharks the year prior. On October 17, 2019, the NHL suspended Valentin Zykov for 20 regular season games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program.

The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled. The Golden Knights advanced to the playoffs and earned the top seed in the Western Conference during the Stanley Cup Qualifiers. In the First Round they defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in five games. The Golden Knights advanced to their second Conference Final in three years after defeating the Vancouver Canucks in seven games in the Second Round. The Golden Knights season came to an end in the fifth game of the Conference Finals as they fell to the Dallas Stars.

Regular season

The Golden Knights started their season with a 4–1 win against the San Jose Sharks on October 3. Cody Glass scored his first NHL goal in his debut game during the opener.

Standings

Divisional standings

Pacific Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Vegas Golden Knights	71	39	24	8	30	227	211	+16	86
2	Edmonton Oilers	71	37	25	9	31	225	217	+8	83
3	Calgary Flames	70	36	27	7	25	210	215	−5	79
4	Vancouver Canucks	69	36	27	6	27	228	217	+11	78
5	Arizona Coyotes	70	33	29	8	26	195	187	+8	74
6	Anaheim Ducks	71	29	33	9	20	187	226	−39	67
7	Los Angeles Kings	70	29	35	6	21	178	212	−34	64
8	San Jose Sharks	70	29	36	5	22	182	226	−44	63

Western Conference

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	St. Louis Blues	71	42	19	10	33	225	193	+32	94	Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament
2	Colorado Avalanche	70	42	20	8	37	237	191	+46	92
3	Vegas Golden Knights	71	39	24	8	30	227	211	+16	86
4	Dallas Stars	69	37	24	8	26	180	177	+3	82
5	Edmonton Oilers	71	37	25	9	31	225	217	+8	83	Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round
6	Nashville Predators	69	35	26	8	28	215	217	−2	78
7	Vancouver Canucks	69	36	27	6	27	228	217	+11	78
8	Calgary Flames	70	36	27	7	25	210	215	−5	79
9	Winnipeg Jets	71	37	28	6	30	216	203	+13	80
10	Minnesota Wild	69	35	27	7	30	220	220	0	77
11	Arizona Coyotes	70	33	29	8	26	195	187	+8	74
12	Chicago Blackhawks	70	32	30	8	23	212	218	−6	72
13	Anaheim Ducks	71	29	33	9	20	187	226	−39	67
14	Los Angeles Kings	70	29	35	6	21	178	212	−34	64
15	San Jose Sharks	70	29	36	5	22	182	226	−44	63

Tiebreaking procedures

1. Fewer number of games played (only used during regular season).
2. Greater number of regulation wins (denoted by RW).
3. Greater amount of wins in regulation and overtime (excluding shootout wins; denoted by ROW).
4. Greater amount of total wins (including shootouts).
5. Greater number of points earned in head-to-head play; if teams played an uneven number of head-to-head games, the result of the first game on the home ice of the team with the extra home game is discarded.
6. Greater goal differential (difference between goals for and goals against).
7. Greater amount of goals scored (denoted by GF).

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 18, 2019.

2019 preseason game log: 5–2–0 (Home: 2–2–0 ; Road: 3–0–0)
#	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	OT	Decision	Attendance	Record	Recap
1	September 15	Arizona	2–6	Vegas		Subban	17,767	1–0–0	Recap
2	September 17	Vegas	5–0	Colorado		Sparks	—	2–0–0	Recap
3	September 19	Vegas	3–2	Los Angeles	OT	Dansk	10,421	3–0–0	Recap
4	September 21	Vegas	3–1	San Jose		Fleury	15,052	4–0–0	Recap
5	September 25	Colorado	4–1	Vegas		Subban	17,954	4–1–0	Recap
6	September 27	Los Angeles	3–2	Vegas		Fleury	18,103	4–2–0	Recap
7	September 29	San Jose	1–5	Vegas		Fleury	18,131	5–2–0	Recap

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on June 25, 2019.

2019–20 game log
October: 8–5–1 (Home: 4–3–1 ; Road: 4–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 2 San Jose 1–4 Vegas Fleury 18,588 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 October 4 Vegas 5–1 San Jose Fleury 17,562 2–0–0 4 Recap 3 October 8 Boston 4–3 Vegas Fleury 18,223 2–1–0 4 Recap 4 October 10 Vegas 1–4 Arizona Subban 13,864 2–2–0 4 Recap 5 October 12 Calgary 2–6 Vegas Fleury 18,192 3–2–0 6 Recap 6 October 13 Vegas 5–2 Los Angeles Fleury 17,699 4–2–0 8 Recap 7 October 15 Nashville 5–2 Vegas Fleury 18,188 4–3–0 8 Recap 8 October 17 Ottawa 2–3 Vegas SO Fleury 18,171 5–3–0 10 Recap 9 October 19 Vegas 3–0 Pittsburgh Fleury 18,610 6–3–0 12 Recap 10 October 21 Vegas 2–6 Philadelphia Dansk 16,780 6–4–0 12 Recap 11 October 22 Vegas 2–1 Chicago SO Fleury 21,172 7–4–0 14 Recap 12 October 25 Colorado 6–1 Vegas Fleury 18,420 7–5–0 14 Recap 13 October 27 Anaheim 2–5 Vegas Fleury 18,110 8–5–0 16 Recap 14 October 31 Montreal 5–4 Vegas OT Fleury 18,035 8–5–1 17 Recap
November: 5–6–3 (Home: 3–2–2 ; Road: 2–4–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 15 November 2 Winnipeg 4–3 Vegas OT Subban 18,276 8–5–2 18 Recap 16 November 5 Vegas 2–1 Columbus Fleury 15,435 9–5–2 20 Recap 17 November 7 Vegas 1–2 Toronto OT Subban 19,218 9–5–3 21 Recap 18 November 9 Vegas 2–5 Washington Fleury 18,573 9–6–3 21 Recap 19 November 10 Vegas 2–3 Detroit Subban 19,057 9–7–3 21 Recap 20 November 13 Chicago 5–3 Vegas Fleury 18,324 9–8–3 21 Recap 21 November 16 Vegas 3–4 Los Angeles Subban 17,282 9–9–3 21 Recap 22 November 17 Calgary 0–6 Vegas Fleury 18,083 10–9–3 23 Recap 23 November 19 Toronto 2–4 Vegas Fleury 18,292 11–9–3 25 Recap 24 November 21 San Jose 2–1 Vegas OT Fleury 18,275 11–9–4 26 Recap 25 November 23 Edmonton 4–2 Vegas Fleury 18,319 11–10–4 26 Recap 26 November 25 Vegas 2–4 Dallas Subban 18,532 11–11–4 26 Recap 27 November 27 Vegas 4–3 Nashville OT Subban 17,326 12–11–4 28 Recap 28 November 29 Arizona 1–2 Vegas SO Subban 18,326 13–11–4 30 Recap
December: 9–4–2 (Home: 5–2–0 ; Road: 4–2–2) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 29 December 2 Vegas 4–1 NY Rangers Subban 16,325 14–11–4 32 Recap 30 December 3 Vegas 4–3 New Jersey Subban 12,831 15–11–4 34 Recap 31 December 5 Vegas 2–3 NY Islanders OT Subban 13,117 15–11–5 35 Recap 32 December 8 NY Rangers 5–0 Vegas Subban 18,236 15–12–5 35 Recap 33 December 10 Chicago 1–5 Vegas Fleury 18,319 16–12–5 37 Recap 34 December 12 Vegas 2–4 St. Louis Fleury 18,096 16–13–5 37 Recap 35 December 13 Vegas 3–2 Dallas OT Subban 18,532 17–13–5 39 Recap 36 December 15 Vancouver 3–6 Vegas Fleury 18,066 18–13–5 41 Recap 37 December 17 Minnesota 2–3 Vegas Fleury 18,220 19–13–5 43 Recap 38 December 19 Vegas 4–5 Vancouver OT Fleury 18,871 19–13–6 44 Recap 39 December 22 Vegas 3–1 San Jose Subban 17,015 20–13–6 46 Recap 40 December 23 Colorado 7–3 Vegas Fleury 18,425 20–14–6 46 Recap 41 December 27 Vegas 3–4 Anaheim Subban 16,601 20–15–6 46 Recap 42 December 28 Arizona 1–4 Vegas Fleury 18,461 21–15–6 48 Recap 43 December 31 Anaheim 2–5 Vegas Fleury 18,320 22–15–6 50 Recap
January: 4–5–1 (Home: 2–3–0 ; Road: 2–2–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 44 January 2 Philadelphia 4–5 Vegas Fleury 18,415 23–15–6 52 Recap 45 January 4 St. Louis 4–5 Vegas OT Fleury 18,334 24–15–6 54 Recap 46 January 7 Pittsburgh 4–3 Vegas Fleury 18,298 24–16–6 54 Recap 47 January 9 Los Angeles 5–2 Vegas Subban 18,281 24–17–6 54 Recap 48 January 11 Columbus 3–0 Vegas Fleury 18,400 24–18–6 54 Recap 49 January 14 Vegas 2–4 Buffalo Fleury 18,257 24–19–6 54 Recap 50 January 16 Vegas 4–2 Ottawa Fleury 12,412 25–19–6 56 Recap 51 January 18 Vegas 4–5 Montreal SO Fleury 21,302 25–19–7 57 Recap 52 January 21 Vegas 2–3 Boston Fleury 17,850 25–20–7 57 Recap 53 January 31 Vegas 4–3 Carolina Subban 18,150 26–20–7 59 Recap
February: 10–2–1 (Home: 7–0–1 ; Road: 3–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 54 February 1 Vegas 3–0 Nashville Fleury 17,664 27–20–7 61 Recap 55 February 4 Vegas 2–4 Tampa Bay Fleury 19,092 27–21–7 61 Recap 56 February 6 Vegas 7–2 Florida Fleury 15,057 28–21–7 63 Recap 57 February 8 Carolina 6–5 Vegas SO Fleury 18,417 28–21–8 64 Recap 58 February 11 Vegas 0–4 Minnesota Fleury 17,112 28–22–8 64 Recap 59 February 13 St. Louis 5–6 Vegas OT Subban 18,252 29–22–8 66 Recap 60 February 15 NY Islanders 0–1 Vegas Fleury 18,444 30–22–8 68 Recap 61 February 17 Washington 2–3 Vegas Fleury 18,399 31–22–8 70 Recap 62 February 20 Tampa Bay 3–5 Vegas Fleury 18,376 32–22–8 72 Recap 63 February 22 Florida 3–5 Vegas Fleury 18,480 33–22–8 74 Recap 64 February 23 Vegas 6–5 Anaheim OT Subban 15,171 34–22–8 76 Recap 65 February 26 Edmonton 0–3 Vegas Fleury 18,421 35–22–8 78 Recap 66 February 28 Buffalo 2–4 Vegas Lehner 18,404 36–22–8 80 Recap
March: 3–2–0 (Home: 1–1–0 ; Road: 2–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 67 March 1 Los Angeles 4–1 Vegas Fleury 18,419 36–23–8 80 Recap 68 March 3 New Jersey 0–3 Vegas Lehner 18,290 37–23–8 82 Recap 69 March 6 Vegas 0–4 Winnipeg Fleury 15,325 37–24–8 82 Recap 70 March 8 Vegas 5–3 Calgary Lehner 18,841 38–24–8 84 Recap 71 March 9 Vegas 3–2 Edmonton OT Fleury 17,327 39–24–8 86 Recap
Cancelled games # Date Visitor Home 72 March 12 Vegas Minnesota 73 March 15 Vegas Colorado 74 March 17 Dallas Vegas 75 March 18 Vegas Arizona 76 March 21 Detroit Vegas 77 March 23 Vancouver Vegas 78 March 25 Arizona Vegas 79 March 29 Vegas Winnipeg 80 March 31 Vegas Edmonton 81 April 2 Vegas Calgary 82 April 4 Vegas Vancouver
Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Golden Knights played in a round-robin tournament to determine their seed for the playoffs. Vegas finished with a 3–0–0 record to clinch the first seed for the playoffs.

In the first round, the Golden Knights defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in five games.

In the second round, the Golden Knights faced the Vancouver Canucks, and defeated them in seven games.

The Golden Knights faced the Dallas Stars in the Conference Final, but were defeated in five games.

2020 Stanley Cup playoffs
Western Conference Seeding Round-robin # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Record Points Recap 1 August 3 Dallas 3–5 Vegas Lehner 1–0–0 2 Recap 2 August 6 Vegas 6–4 St. Louis Fleury 2–0–0 4 Recap 3 August 8 Vegas 4–3 Colorado OT Lehner 3–0–0 6 Recap
Western Conference First Round vs. (8) Chicago Blackhawks: Vegas won 4–1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 August 11 Chicago 1–4 Vegas Lehner 1–0 Recap 2 August 13 Chicago 3–4 Vegas OT Lehner 2–0 Recap 3 August 15 Vegas 2–1 Chicago Fleury 3–0 Recap 4 August 16 Vegas 1–3 Chicago Lehner 3–1 Recap 5 August 18 Chicago 3–4 Vegas Lehner 4–1 Recap
Western Conference Second Round vs. (5) Vancouver Canucks: Vegas won 4–3 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 August 23 Vancouver 0–5 Vegas Lehner 1–0 Recap 2 August 25 Vancouver 5–2 Vegas Lehner 1–1 Recap 3 August 29 Vegas 3–0 Vancouver Lehner 2–1 Recap 4 August 30 Vegas 5–3 Vancouver Fleury 3–1 Recap 5 September 1 Vancouver 2–1 Vegas Lehner 3–2 Recap 6 September 3 Vegas 0–4 Vancouver Lehner 3–3 Recap 7 September 4 Vancouver 0–3 Vegas Lehner 4–3 Recap
Western Conference Finals vs. (3) Dallas Stars: Dallas won 4–1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 September 6 Dallas 1–0 Vegas Fleury 0–1 Recap 2 September 8 Dallas 0–3 Vegas Lehner 1–1 Recap 3 September 10 Vegas 2–3 Dallas OT Lehner 1–2 Recap 4 September 12 Vegas 1–2 Dallas Lehner 1–3 Recap 5 September 14 Dallas 3–2 Vegas OT Lehner 1–4 Recap
Legend:       Win (2 points)       Loss (0 points)       Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Max Pacioretty	71	32	34	66	18	44
Mark Stone	65	21	42	63	15	27
Reilly Smith	71	27	27	54	17	20
Jonathan Marchessault	66	22	25	47	6	28
William Karlsson	63	15	31	46	11	16
Shea Theodore	71	13	33	46	12	25
Paul Stastny	71	17	21	38	6	24
Nate Schmidt	59	7	24	31	11	12
Chandler Stephenson†	41	8	14	22	19	10
William Carrier	71	7	12	19	0	39
Alex Tuch	42	8	9	17	−10	8
Ryan Reaves	71	8	7	15	−5	47
Tomas Nosek	67	8	7	15	−2	20
Nick Holden	61	6	8	14	−1	13
Cody Glass	39	5	7	12	−7	6
Nicolas Hague	38	1	10	11	0	32
Nicolas Roy	28	5	5	10	3	8
Cody Eakin‡	41	4	6	10	−9	16
Brayden McNabb	71	2	7	9	1	40
Alec Martinez†	10	2	6	8	5	6
Jon Merrill	49	2	5	7	9	32
Deryk Engelland	49	1	5	6	6	37
Valentin Zykov	15	1	3	4	−2	6
Nick Cousins†	7	1	2	3	−1	2
Brandon Pirri	16	0	2	2	−4	8
Patrick Brown	1	1	0	1	0	0
Zach Whitecloud	16	0	1	1	3	4
Gage Quinney	3	0	1	1	−1	0
Keegan Kolesar	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jake Bischoff	4	0	0	0	−2	4

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Shea Theodore	20	7	12	19	7	8
Mark Stone	20	7	10	17	−1	6
Reilly Smith	20	5	9	14	2	8
Alex Tuch	20	8	4	12	5	8
William Karlsson	20	4	6	10	2	0
Jonathan Marchessault	20	3	7	10	1	16
Paul Stastny	18	3	6	9	1	8
Nate Schmidt	20	2	7	9	0	4
Max Pacioretty	16	5	3	8	−2	12
Alec Martinez	20	2	6	8	11	4
Nicolas Roy	20	1	7	8	4	6
Chandler Stephenson	20	3	2	5	2	4
Nick Cousins	17	0	5	5	0	22
Ryan Reaves	19	0	4	4	2	14
William Carrier	20	2	1	3	3	10
Zach Whitecloud	20	2	1	3	1	6
Tomas Nosek	8	2	1	3	0	2
Brayden McNabb	20	0	3	3	−1	14
Patrick Brown	2	1	0	1	1	0
Jon Merrill	1	0	1	1	1	0
Nick Holden	19	0	1	1	2	4

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Marc-Andre Fleury	49	48	2,880:06	27	16	5	133	2.77	1,399	.905	5	0	0	8
Malcolm Subban‡	20	19	1,133:05	9	7	3	60	3.18	546	.890	0	0	0	0
Robin Lehner†	3	3	180:00	3	0	0	5	1.67	83	.940	1	0	0	0
Garret Sparks	1	0	27:24	0	0	0	2	4.38	14	.857	0	0	0	0
Oscar Dansk	1	1	60:00	0	1	0	6	6.00	37	.838	0	0	0	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Robin Lehner	16	16	965:52	9	7	32	1.99	386	.917	4	0	0	0
Marc-Andre Fleury	4	4	238:02	3	1	9	2.27	100	.910	0	0	0	2

^†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.