The Vegas Golden Knights will kick off their 2025 postseason run Monday night in Game 1 of the first-round series against the Minnesota Wild. The Golden Knights are two years removed from the first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history and enter the playoffs at the top of the Pacific Division standings and as the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
The Golden Knights will take on the first wildcard Minnesota Wild (45-30-7) for the second time after the two clubs went head-to-head in the first round in 2021. Vegas won that series in seven games.
The Golden Knights have home-ice advantage, which means the first two games will be held at T-Mobile Arena, where Vegas matched its franchise record for most wins at home with a 29-9-3 record.
How they got here: Golden Knights
The Golden Knights finished the 2024-25 campaign with a 50-22-10 record and 110 points, good enough to clinch their fourth Pacific Division title in eight years and finish second in the West behind only the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets.
The Golden Knights had bouts of inconsistent play but hovered around the top of the standings all year. Vegas started the year 7-2-1 and won its first eight games on home ice. Fittingly, Vegas clinched the division title in the final home game of the season.
There were a number of question marks headed into the regular season after a complicated offseason that saw widespread departures of members of the Stanley Cup team, including Jonathan Marchessault, Chandler Stephenson, William Carrier, Michael Amadio and Alec Martinez. Vegas also parted ways with Logan Thompson in a shocking draft-day deal and moved on from Paul Cotter.
But last year’s trade-deadline acquisitions of Tomas Hertl and Noah Hanifin in addition to several strategic moves in the offseason (Victor Olofsson, Tanner Pearson, Ilya Samsonov) and regular season (Brandon Saad, Reilly Smith) helped Vegas fill the holes. The Golden Knights now enter the playoffs with four solid lines and three defensive pairings as well as a Stanley Cup-winning goaltender.
The team’s best players stepped up with fantastic campaigns. Jack Eichel set a career high and franchise record with 94 points in the regular season and should get some attention in the Selke Trophy race. Mark Stone finished second on the team in scoring with 67 points in 66 games, while Hertl set a franchise record with 14 power-play goals and finished second on the team in goals with 32. Shea Theodore set franchise records for most assists (50) and points (57) by a defenseman in a season, both of which were career highs.
But it wasn’t just the big names that came through for the Golden Knights.
Pavel Dorofeyev took a massive step forward, leading the team with 35 goals and becoming just the third player in franchise history to top the 30-goal threshold, joining William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault. Dorofeyev also finished second on the team with 13 power-play tallies.
Brett Howden had a career season with 23 goals and 40 points, and Keegan Kolesar set career highs across the board with 12 goals, 18 assists, 30 points and three game-winning goals. He and Howden stepped up both on and off the ice, and both were recognized with team awards at the end of the season.
Vegas had five players with more than 20 goals, including Dorofeyev (35), Hertl (32), Eichel (28), Howden (23) and Ivan Barbashev (23). Thirteen different players reached double digits in goals, and eight managed to top 15, including Stone (19), Olofsson (15) and Nicolas Roy (15). Pearson and Hanifin also lit the lamp frequently, recording 13 and 10 goals, respectively.
Not surprisingly, all of this contributed to the club setting a franchise record with 274 goals in 82 games. Notably, 53 of those 274 goals came on the man-advantage in a year when Vegas maintained a franchise-best 28.3 percent efficacy rate on the power play. The Golden Knights did so on just 187 opportunities, the fewest by any team in NHL history during an 82-game season.
Only three Vegas skaters played in all 82 games: Brayden McNabb, Kolesar and Dorofeyev.
Adin Hill set a career high in wins (32), going 32-13-5 with a 2.47 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and four shutouts.
How they got here: Wild
The Wild were the best team in hockey on Dec. 6 after going 17-4-4 to start the season but saw their hot start fade with injuries to key players, including Joel Eriksson Ek and Kirill Kaprizov, who were held to just 46 and 41 games, respectively. Minnesota experienced key injuries to the blue line throughout the campaign and ultimately limped into the playoffs on a last-second goal to force overtime in Game 82 against Anaheim. The Wild finished the season with a 45-30-7 record and 97 points.
Kaprizov was having an MVP-caliber season with 23 goals and 21 assists for 44 points in the first 34 games of the season. He finished the year with 25 goals and 56 points in 41 games, a plus-19 rating, four power-play goals and five game-winning goals.
In the face of Kaprizov’s prolonged absence, Matt Boldy stepped up for the Wild and led the team in scoring with a career-high 73 points — including 27 goals and a team-leading 46 assists — while averaging the lowest shooting percentage of his career (10 percent). He was one of three Wild players to skate in all 82 games — joining centers Marco Rossi and Frederick Gaudreau — and led the team with 10 game-winning goals.
Rossi finished second on the team in assists (46) and points (60), both career highs, and also set personal bests with 24 goals, a team-high seven power-play goals and 16 power-play points. Defenseman Brock Faber took a step back offensively with 29 points and 10 power-play points (down from 47 and 16, respectively, the year before), though he had a much heavier workload, averaging a career-high 25:32. He played 327 more minutes than anyone else on the team and 525 more minutes than any other defenseman.
Filip Gustavsson was the No. 1. goalie and finished the season with a 31-19-6 record along with a 2.56 goals-against average, .914 save percentage and five shutouts in 58 games. In the final season of his historic career, Marc-Andre Fleury got 26 starts and finished 2024-25 at 14-9-1 with a 2.93 goals-against average, .899 save percentage and one shutout.
By the numbers: 2024-25
Goals for
Vegas: 3.34 (5th)
Minnesota: 2.74 (25th)
Goals against
Vegas: 2.61 (3rd)
Minnesota: 2.88 (16th)
Power play
Vegas: 28.3 percent (2nd)
Minnesota: 20.9 percent (20th)
Penalty kill
Vegas: 75.7 percent (26th)
Minnesota: 72.4 percent (30th)
Goal differential by period
Vegas: 1st (+18), 2nd (+3), 3rd (+41)
Minnesota: 1st (+2), 2nd (-12), 3rd (-6)
Scoring first
Vegas: 28-8-8 (.636) — 19th
Minnesota: 31-11-3 (.689) — 13th
Trailing first
Vegas: 22-14-2 (.579) — 1st
Minnesota: 14-19-4 (.378) — 11th
Season series
The Golden Knights swept the three-game season series (3-0-0), most recently topping the Wild in a 5-1 decision in Saint Paul in late March to follow up on 4-1 and 3-2 victories in January and December, respectively. In total, Vegas outscored Minnesota 12-4, with Eichel (3-2–5), Theodore (1-4–5) and Stone (0-5–5) leading the way with five points apiece. Eichel netted a hat trick in the March 25 meeting, while Dorofeyev and Olofsson each scored twice in one of the other matchups.
Hill manned the crease in two of the three games, stopping 38 of 40 shots for a combined .950 save percentage. Samsonov recorded a .909 save percentage with 20 saves on 22 shots in the December matchup.
For the Wild, Mats Zuccarello led the way with three assists, while Kaprizov scored two of Minnesota’s four goals, both of which came in the December meeting. Ryan Hartman and Marcus Johansson accounted for the other two.
Three different Wild goalies appeared in the season series, with Gustavsson in net for the January meeting, where he stopped 33 of 37 shots for an .892 save percentage. Fleury posted the same numbers in the March 25 contest, while Jesper Wallstedt turned aside 24 of 27 shots (.889 save percentage) in December.
The Golden Knights went a combined 4-for-7 on the power play, converting at a 57.1 percent clip, while the penalty kill took care of all four of Minnesota’s opportunities with the man-advantage.
Dec. 15 — Golden Knights 3, Wild 2
Kaprizov opened the scoring just 90 seconds into the game, but Vegas answered with a power-play tally from Olofsson nine minutes later (it took Vegas just seven seconds to light the lamp on the power play). Theodore gave Vegas its first lead 6:04 into the second off a Minnesota turnover, but Kaprizov’s second of the night evened things up with 3:04 remaining in the middle frame. Olofsson potted the game-winner 3:49 into the third.
Goals
Vegas: Olofsson (6-PPG), Theodore (4), Olofsson (7)
Minnesota: Kaprizov (21), Kaprizov (22)
Jan. 12 — Golden Knights 4, Wild 1
Hartman scored the game’s first goal 12:09 into the first period to give the Wild a 1-0 edge. However, Vegas scored four unanswered goals, three of which came in the third period, for the win. Dorofeyev scored twice on the power play, with Vegas going 2-for-5 on the night. Kaprizov did not play for the Wild. Hill gave up one goal on 16 shots (.938 SV%).
Goals
Vegas: Dorofeyev (15-PPG), Kolesar (10), Hertl (12), Dorofeyev (16-PPG)
Minnesota: Hartman (6)
March 25 — Golden Knights 5, Wild 1
Vegas was without Hertl, but Theodore returned to the lineup (after missing 14 games) for his 500th game with the Golden Knights. For the third time in three games against Minnesota, Theodore found the scoresheet, tallying an assist on Eichel’s first-period goal. Howden reached the 20-goal mark for the first time in his career to give Vegas a 2-0 lead through two periods. Johansson scored 1:42 into the third period to cut Vegas’ lead in half. However, Vegas’ power play came through late in the third, as Eichel’s second of the game proved to be the turning point. Vegas followed up with two more tallies, including Eichel’s 26th of the season to complete the hat trick. Hill recorded a .958 save percentage with 23 saves on 24 shots.
Goals
Vegas: Eichel (24), Howden (20), Eichel (25-PPG), Pearson (12-EN), Eichel (28)
Minnesota: Johansson (8)
All-time matchup
The Golden Knights are 15-12-1 in the all-time regular-season matchup against the Wild. That includes a 7-7-0 mark at Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul.
These teams squared off in a first-round matchup back in 2021. The Golden Knights won the series in seven games thanks to Mattias Janmark’s hat trick in Game 7. The Golden Knights went 3-4-1 in the season series against the Wild that year.
In the early days of the franchise, the Golden Knights struggled against Minnesota, losing all three games in the inaugural campaign and going a combined 2-6-0 in the first three seasons and 5-10-1 in the first four.
It wasn’t until Year 5 — after the Golden Knights defeated Minnesota in the 2021 postseason — that Vegas turned the corner, winning two of three matchups that year and 10 of 12 over the last four years. Under Bruce Cassidy, Vegas has gone a combined 8-1-0 over the last three seasons, including 3-0-0 in 2022-23 and 2024-25.
Stone leads all current Golden Knights skaters with 22 points (four goals and 18 assists) against the Wild, followed by Karlsson (3-10—13), Eichel (5-7—12), Theodore (3-9—12) and Roy (2-7—10) . Dorofeyev is third in points per game (1.33) with five goals and eight points in six meetings.
Not surprisingly, Kaprizov is first on the Wild with 10 goals and 15 points in 16 games against the Golden Knights. Eriksson Ek (7-8—15), Jonas Brodin (3-10—13), Marcus Foligno (5-5—10) and Jared Spurgeon (4-6—10) round out the top-5 among current players.
Hill is 2-1-0 with a 1.84 goals-against average and .917 save percentage, while Gustavsson is 1-2-1 with a 2.46 goals-against average and .916 save percentage.
Since joining the Wild, Fleury is 0-4-0 with a 5.25 goals-against average and .856 save percentage in four appearances against Vegas. Samsonov is 3-0-0 all-time against the Wild and 1-0-0 as a member of the Golden Knights. Akira Schmid has yet to face the Wild in his career.
None of the four goalies in the matchup have ever shut out the opposing team in the regular season, though Fleury did shut out the Wild in Game 4 (4-0) of the 2021 series. Cam Talbot was in net for the Wild at the time; he shut out Vegas in Game 1 (1-0) and Game 6 (3-0).
In the 2021 playoff series, Stone scored a team-high four goals and added an assist. Roy (2-2—4) and Karlsson (1-3—4) finished the seven-game matchup with four points, while Smith (1-2—3) and Alex Pietrangelo (0-3—3) each had three.
Five Wild skaters who remain with the team recorded three points in the series, including Eriksson Ek (2-1—3), Kaprizov (2-1—3), Spurgeon (0-3—3), Zuccarello (0-3—3) and Brodin (0-3—3).
Goalie matchup
Golden Knights: Adin Hill
Hill set a career high in wins (32) and starts (50) and finished the 2024-25 season with a 32-13-5 record along with a 2.47 goals-against average, .906 save percentage and four shutouts. He finished the year with 11.79 goals saved above expected, good for 20th in the league.
He ended the season on a 12-3-1 tear following the 4 Nations Face-Off break, maintaining a 2.11 goals-against average, .920 save percentage and recording two shutouts.
Hill is 3-4-1 all-time against the Wild with a 2.29 goals-against average and .906 save percentage. Since joining the Golden Knights, however, Hill has gone 2-1-0 with a 1.84 goals-against average and .917 save percentage. He won both meetings against the Wild this season, surrendering two goals on 40 shots.
He is 12-6-0 with a 2.09 goals-against average, .932 save percentage and three shutouts in 17 starts in the playoffs, all with Vegas.
Wild: Filip Gustavsson
Gustavsson went 31-19-6 and recorded a 2.56 goals-against average, .914 save percentage and five shutouts in 58 games in 2024-25. He finished the regular season with 10.85 goals saved above expected, ranking 23rd overall. However, he was fifth in goals saved above average (22.95).
He is 1-3-1 in six all-time appearances against Vegas, though his 2.76 goals-against average and .911 save percentage are better than that record would indicate. Of the 15 goals he has surrendered, three were scored on the power play and 12 came at even strength. Only five of those games came when he was with the Wild, though. In his time with Minnesota, Gustavsson is 1-2-1 against Vegas with a 2.46 goals-against average and .916 save percentage.
In five career playoff starts (all with the Wild), Gustavsson has gone 2-3-0 with a 2.33 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and zero shutouts.
Injury report
Both teams are healthy.
The Wild had a series of significant injuries that threatened to derail their regular season, most notably Kaprizov and Eriksson Ek. Other key players who played fewer than 70 games include Brodin (50), Spurgeon (66), Jacob Middleton (67), Hartman (69) and Zuccarello (69).
However, Minnesota will have a full lineup for Game 1. The same is true for the Golden Knights.
Keys to the series
Puck patience
The Golden Knights struggled with puck management throughout the season, and it came back to haunt them in many of their losses. Fixing those mistakes is something Cassidy has preached all season, and the messaging will be similar in this series. That’s especially true against a strong defensive team that likely will be sitting back and waiting for Vegas to make mistakes. The Golden Knights must match that level of patience. Instead of forcing plays, the Golden Knights need to take what is available.
The forecheck will be key for Vegas. The Golden Knights need to retrieve pucks in the offensive zone to establish zone time, feed the cycle and force turnovers to generate chances.
“They’re pretty stingy,” Smith said. “They don’t give you too much, especially off the rush. So you kind of have to wear them down to create. There’s not going to be a lot of odd-man rush chances.”
Rediscover the power-play magic
The Golden Knights scored a franchise-high 53 goals on the power play despite having just 187 chances this season, and it was a massive factor in the team’s success. Vegas’ power play was not the same down the stretch, in large part due to the fact that the Golden Knights were unable to ice a full lineup due to injuries. In fact, the three key members of the top unit — Hertl, Eichel, Stone — missed time at various points, and the power play suffered because of it. The club hasn’t had much of a chance to rekindle that fire, but it’s something Vegas must figure out early in the series. In what is projected to be a low-scoring, low-event matchup, the power play could be critical.
60 minutes
The best team when leading after two periods (Minnesota) will go up against the best team when trailing after two periods (Vegas), meaning no lead will be safe in this series. That’s usually true in the playoffs, but it’s an interesting dynamic in this matchup. The Wild were a perfect 29-0-0 in the regular season with a lead headed into the third period. Vegas had the best winning percentage in the league (.308) when trailing after two periods, going 8-16-2. Vegas also had the second-best winning percentage (.444) when trailing after 20 minutes. That being said, the Golden Knights do not want to find themselves chasing games. Vegas needs to come out strong and deliver for 60 minutes.
Home-ice advantage
The Golden Knights fought to win the Pacific in order to secure home-ice advantage for as many rounds as possible. It was an especially important factor this year when Vegas was so solid at home (29-9-3) compared to on the road (21-13-7), and it’s an advantage the Golden Knights need to own.
X-factors
Golden Knights: Tomas Hertl
There are several players who could fit the bill as X-factors in this series, as the Golden Knights have a lot of players capable of stepping up and contributing in significant ways. Eichel, Stone, Karlsson and Hill are but a few, with the fourth line/depth scoring being another. But at the end of the day, arguably the most significant factor in Vegas’ success during the regular season was the power play, and there’s a reason Vegas managed to set a franchise record in that department this season. That reason is named Tomas Hertl.
Could this selection change a few games into the series? Absolutely. In reality, the Golden Knights will need everyone to contribute if they want to have success.
But it’s pivotal that the Golden Knights get back to converting on the power play. The man-advantage played a major role in so many close games during the regular season, and it’s a momentum-shifter in any game, particularly in the playoffs. Hertl’s net-front presence opens everything up for Vegas on the power play, and he was dominant in the bumper position this season. The combination of Eichel, Stone and Hertl down low gave teams fits, with Doroeyev (who led the team in goals) serving as a “backup” option and Theodore distributing the puck from the point. The Golden Knights’ power play can be lethal, and Hertl is the key.
Hertl also gives Vegas impressive depth down the middle, serving as an excellent No. 2 behind the elite Eichel while allowing the versatile Karlsson to slot in on the third line. Plus, the Hertl-Dorofeyev combination, which teamed up for 67 goals, has been lights-out this season, and Vegas will need both players to continue to produce if the Golden Knights want to go on an extended run.
Wild: Kirill Kaprizov
This one is a little more straightforward, as Kaprizov is very clearly the most valuable player for the Wild. From a skill perspective, he’s the most talented player in the series. That’s no knock on someone like Eichel, who is arguably one of the top all-around players in the game. But Kaprizov’s skill is undeniable, and he’s already done plenty of damage against Vegas. He also doesn’t need much time or space to make something happen. Shutting him down will be Vegas’ biggest obstacle in the matchup.
Honorable mention: Zeev Buium
That being said, there’s a chance that Zeev Buium’s insertion into the lineup will give the Wild a boost. Buium is set to make his NHL debut in Game 1. He won a championship with the University of Denver last year and assisted on the tournament-clinching goal for Team USA in this year’s World Juniors, setting up Teddy Stiga for the “Golden Goal” in overtime.
Buium is a gifted skater and will quarterback the Wild’s top power play, giving them a brand new element on the man-advantage. It’s difficult to say how significant an effect Buium may have, but he’s definitely someone to watch in the matchup.
The talented puck-moving defenseman was a Hobey Baker finalist in his freshman year and has obvious offensive skill. He also has a bit of a chip on his shoulder after dropping to No. 12 overall in the NHL Draft (in Las Vegas) after some scouts had him going as early as third or fourth, but the Wild traded up with Philadelphia to snag him, and he is part of the franchise’s long-term plans.
Bottom line
The Golden Knights are favored in the first-round matchup, but this Wild team could be a very different beast than the one Vegas defeated three times in the regular season. Minnesota is healthy and is expected to have a more dynamic and threatening power play with the addition of Buium. From a skill perspective, Kaprizov is the most talented player in the series, and he has been difficult for Vegas to handle in the past. Had he been in the lineup in the March 25 matchup, which was a 2-1 game in the third period, things could have gone differently.
That being said, the Golden Knights have the depth, talent and pedigree to win this series. They need to take care of the details, including puck management, clearing the crease, winning in front of both nets and capitalizing on the power play. If they can do that, and if Hill comes to play, the Golden Knights are in a good spot to advance to the second round. If Vegas underestimates its opponent, shows up late in games and is careless with the puck, the Wild could pull off an upset.
The Golden Knights will not be intimidated. It may take a game or two for Veags to adjust, but this is a well-coached and experienced playoff club that has all the pieces in place. It’s just a matter of whether they’re disciplined enough to put them — and keep them — all together.
They said it
“One of the great things about this group is the leadership in numbers,” Smith said. “It’s not the same person talking at the end of every period, and I think that goes a lot further. When the voices are coming from everyone, I think it’s a lot easier to buy into the system.”
“I think that’s when we’re at our best, when we’re not chasing matchups,” Cassidy said. “The players know the coaching staff trusts them. Get out there and do the job, whoever you’re lined up against. I think that gives them confidence. Now, they’ve got to be able to get the job done, and we feel they can.”
Projected lineups
Golden Knights
Ivan Barbashev — Jack Eichel — Mark Stone
Brandon Saad — Tomas Hertl — Pavel Dorofeyev
Victor Olofsson — William Karlsson — Reilly Smith
Brett Howden — Nicolas Roy — Keegan Kolesar
Nicolas Hague — Alex Pietrangelo
Brayden McNabb — Shea Theodore
Noah Hanifin — Zach Whitecloud
Adin Hill
Ilya Samsonov
Wild
Kirill Kaprizov — Joel Eriksson Ek — Matt Boldy
Marcus Johansson — Frederick Gaudreau — Mats Zuccarello
Marcus Foligno — Marco Rossi — Gustav Nyquist
Yakov Trenin — Ryan Hartman —Justin Brazeau
Jonas Brodin — Brock Faber
Jacob Middleton — Jared Spurgeon
Zeev Buium — Zach Bogosian
Filip Gustavsson
Marc-Andre Fleury
How to watch
Game 1: Golden Knights vs. Wild
When: 7 p.m. PT
Where: T-Mobile Arena — Las Vegas, NV
TV: Scripps, ESPN
Radio: Fox Sports 98.9 FM
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick, NHL.com, Hockey Reference and Evolving Hockey.