The Vegas Golden Knights were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers with a 1-0 overtime loss in Game 5 of the best-of-7 Western Conference Second Round at T-Mobile Arena on Wednesday.
The only win Vegas had in the series was a last-second 4-3 victory in Game 4 when Reilly Smith's shot was deflected into the net by Edmonton forward Leon Draisaitl with 0.4 seconds remaining in the game.
The Golden Knights (50-22-10) qualified for the playoffs as the first-place team in the Pacific Division. Vegas has made it to at least the second round in five of its seven postseason appearances during its eight-season existence.
The skinny
Potential unrestricted free agents: Victor Olofsson, F; Tanner Pearson, F; Brandon Saad, F; Reilly Smith, F; Ilya Samsonov, G
Potential restricted free agents: Alexander Holtz, F; Nicolas Hague, D
Potential 2025 Draft picks: 6
Here are five reasons the Golden Knights were eliminated:
1. Stars did not shine
Forwards Jack Eichel, Mark Stone, Tomas Hertl and Pavel Dorofeyev and defenseman Shea Theodore were the top point scorers for the Golden Knights during the regular season. Of those five, Stone was the only one that scored a goal in this series, getting two despite missing most of Game 3 after sustaining a first-period injury and not playing in Game 5. Hertl and Dorofeyev, who missed the first two games of the series because of injuries sustained against the Minnesota Wild in the first round, did not have a point against Edmonton. Theodore had one assist. Eichel led the team with five assists but was minus-4.
2. Invisible around the nets
This might have been the biggest regret for coach Bruce Cassidy in this series. Vegas is known for using its size to dominate the area around each crease, creating goals out of the havoc in front of the opposition's net and limiting those opportunities in front of its own goalie. Not in this series. In a 3-0 loss in Game 4, Edmonton forward Adam Henrique scored two first-period goals. Each was right on the doorstop of goalie Adin Hill, who was bumped and jostled throughout the game. In Game 5, the only goal of the game at 7:19 of overtime was scored by forward Kasperi Kapanen, who got inside the Vegas defense and shoveled a puck in the crease into the net.
3. Inability to hold a lead
Vegas led at some point in each of the first three games, but coughed each one up. In Game 1, the Golden Knights scored two goals in the first 9:03 before allowing four straight in a 4-2 loss. In Game 2, forward Victor Olofsson scored in the first period for a 1-0 lead, but the Golden Knights allowed the next three goals and lost 5-4 in overtime. In Game 3, Corey Perry scored two goals to open the game, but Vegas scored the next three to take a one-goal lead. The Golden Knights lost it when Connor McDavid tied it with 3:02 remaining. Eventually, Vegas pulled this one out with Smith's last-second goal.
4. No power in power play
The Vegas power play was 3-for-7 in the first two games of the series but did not score on its final six man-advantage attempts across the final three games. That's doubly telling because the penalty kill was supposedly one of the biggest weaknesses for the Oilers, who allowed eight goals in 20 attempts (60 percent penalty kill rate) to the Los Angeles Kings in the first round. Vegas had five power-play goals in 18 attempts (27.8 percent) in the first round against the Wild after ranking second in the NHL with the man-advantage during the regular season (28.3 percent).
5. Goalie advantage evaporated
Hill was supposed to be the best goalie in this series. During the regular season, he played in a career-best 50 games, going 32-13-5 with a 2.47 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage. He was far less effective in the five games against the Oilers with an .893 save percentage. He was outdueled by Oilers backup Calvin Pickard in the first two games before Pickard was injured. Then starter Stuart Skinner, who was benched after two games to start the Kings series, returned and played to a .944 save percentage across the final three games. Skinner finished with back-to-back shutouts to close out the series.
