The 2018–19 Vegas Golden Knights season was the second season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise that started playing in the 2017–18 season.

The Golden Knights bolstered their lineup during the offseason with the signing of Paul Stastny, as well as the acquisition former Montreal Canadiens captain Max Pacioretty. They also acquired goal-scoring forward Mark Stone from the Ottawa Senators at the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline, and subsequently signed him to an 8-year contract extension.

Prior to the season, the NHL suspended defenseman Nate Schmidt for 20 regular season games for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program. On March 29, 2019, the Golden Knights clinched a playoff spot after the Arizona Coyotes' 3–2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche.

Despite leading the series against the San Jose Sharks 3–1 in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Golden Knights were eliminated in seven games, after blowing a 3–0 3rd period lead in the deciding game following a controversial major penalty.

Standings

Schedule and results

Preseason The preseason schedule was released on June 18, 2018. 2018 preseason game log: 6–1–0 (Home: 3–1–0; Road: 3–0–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Recap 1 September 16 Arizona 2–7 Vegas Ferguson 17,567 1–0–0 2 September 18 Vegas 5–1 Colorado Fucale — 2–0–0 3 September 20 Vegas 7–2 Los Angeles Dansk 12,916 3–0–0 4 September 22 Vegas 5–4 San Jose SO Lagace — 4–0–0 5 September 24 Colorado 5–3 Vegas Subban 17,880 4–1–0 6 September 28 Los Angeles 0–2 Vegas Fleury 17,928 5–1–0 7 September 30 San Jose 2–5 Vegas Fleury 17,958 6–1–0

Regular season The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018. 2018–19 game logOctober: 5–6–1 (Home: 3–2–1; Road: 2–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 October 4 Philadelphia 5–2 Vegas Fleury 18,555 0–1–0 0 2 October 6 Vegas 2–1 Minnesota SO Fleury 19,077 1–1–0 2 3 October 8 Vegas 2–4 Buffalo Fleury 16,004 1–2–0 2 4 October 10 Vegas 2–5 Washington Fleury 18,506 1–3–0 2 5 October 11 Vegas 2–4 Pittsburgh Subban 18,610 1–4–0 2 6 October 13 Vegas 1–0 Philadelphia Fleury 19,067 2–4–0 4 7 October 16 Buffalo 1–4 Vegas Fleury 18,321 3–4–0 6 8 October 20 Anaheim 1–3 Vegas Fleury 18,375 4–4–0 8 9 October 24 Vancouver 3–2 Vegas SO Fleury 18,189 4–4–1 9 10 October 26 Tampa Bay 3–2 Vegas Fleury 18,207 4–5–1 9 11 October 28 Ottawa 3–4 Vegas OT Fleury 18,089 5–5–1 11 12 October 30 Vegas 1–4 Nashville Subban 17,367 5–6–1 11 November: 9–6–0 (Home: 4–1–0; Road: 5–5–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 13 November 1 Vegas 3–5 St. Louis Fleury 16,813 5–7–1 11 14 November 3 Carolina 0–3 Vegas Fleury 18,328 6–7–1 13 15 November 6 Vegas 1–3 Toronto Fleury 19,045 6–8–1 13 16 November 8 Vegas 5–3 Ottawa Fleury 15,213 7–8–1 15 17 November 10 Vegas 4–5 Montreal Fleury 21,302 7–9–1 15 18 November 11 Vegas 1–4 Boston Subban 17,565 7–10–1 15 19 November 14 Anaheim 0–5 Vegas Fleury 18,111 8–10–1 17 20 November 16 St. Louis 4–1 Vegas Fleury 18,488 8–11–1 17 21 November 18 Vegas 6–3 Edmonton Fleury 18,347 9–11–1 19 22 November 19 Vegas 2–7 Calgary Subban 17,635 9–12–1 19 23 November 21 Vegas 3–2 Arizona OT Fleury 14,151 10–12–1 21 24 November 23 Calgary 0–2 Vegas Fleury 18,206 11–12–1 23 25 November 24 San Jose 0–6 Vegas Fleury 18,252 12–12–1 25 26 November 27 Vegas 8–3 Chicago Fleury 21,460 13–12–1 27 27 November 29 Vegas 4–3 Vancouver Fleury 16,880 14–12–1 29 December: 9–3–3 (Home: 5–0–2; Road: 4–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 28 December 1 Vegas 1–2 Edmonton Fleury 18,347 14–13–1 29 29 December 4 Washington 3–5 Vegas Fleury 18,125 15–13–1 31 30 December 6 Chicago 3–4 Vegas Fleury 18,494 16–13–1 33 31 December 8 Vegas 1–5 Los Angeles Fleury 17,631 16–14–1 33 32 December 9 Dallas 2–4 Vegas Fleury 18,240 17–14–1 35 33 December 12 Vegas 3–2 NY Islanders Fleury 9,182 18–14–1 37 34 December 14 Vegas 4–5 New Jersey OT Fleury 14,076 18–14–2 38 35 December 16 Vegas 4–3 NY Rangers OT Fleury 17,660 19–14–2 40 36 December 17 Vegas 0–1 Columbus Subban 15,008 19–15–2 40 37 December 20 NY Islanders 2–4 Vegas Fleury 18,226 20–15–2 42 38 December 22 Montreal 4–3 Vegas OT Fleury 18,173 20–15–3 43 39 December 23 Los Angeles 4–3 Vegas OT Fleury 18,225 20–15–4 44 40 December 27 Colorado 1–2 Vegas Fleury 18,505 21–15–4 46 41 December 29 Vegas 4–1 Los Angeles Subban 18,230 22–15–4 48 42 December 30 Vegas 5–1 Arizona Fleury 17,125 23–15–4 50 January: 6–4–0 (Home: 4–3–0; Road: 2–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 43 January 1 Los Angeles 0–2 Vegas Fleury 18,319 24–15–4 52 44 January 4 Vegas 3–2 Anaheim Fleury 17,222 25–15–4 54 45 January 6 New Jersey 2–3 Vegas Subban 18,103 26–15–4 56 46 January 8 NY Rangers 2–4 Vegas Fleury 18,249 27–15–4 58 47 January 10 San Jose 3–2 Vegas Fleury 18,367 27–16–4 58 48 January 12 Vegas 4–3 Chicago OT Fleury 21,760 28–16–4 60 49 January 15 Vegas 1–4 Winnipeg Fleury 15,321 28–17–4 60 50 January 19 Pittsburgh 3–7 Vegas Fleury 18,511 29–17–4 62 51 January 21 Minnesota 4–2 Vegas Fleury 18,328 29–18–4 62 52 January 23 Nashville 2–1 Vegas Fleury 18,477 29–19–4 62 February: 5–7–1 (Home: 3–4–1; Road: 2–3–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 53 February 1 Vegas 2–5 Carolina Lagace 17,104 29–20–4 62 54 February 2 Vegas 1–3 Florida Fleury 15,202 29–21–4 62 55 February 5 Vegas 3–2 Tampa Bay SO Fleury 19,092 30–21–4 64 56 February 7 Vegas 4–3 Detroit Fleury 18,889 31–21–4 66 57 February 9 Columbus 4–3 Vegas Fleury 18,301 31–22–4 66 58 February 12 Arizona 5–2 Vegas Fleury 18,212 31–23–4 66 59 February 14 Toronto 6–3 Vegas Fleury 18,214 31–24–4 66 60 February 16 Nashville 1–5 Vegas Subban 18,430 32–24–4 68 61 February 18 Vegas 0–3 Colorado Subban 17,808 32–25–4 68 62 February 20 Boston 3–2 Vegas SO Fleury 18,222 32–25–5 69 63 February 22 Winnipeg 6–3 Vegas Fleury 18,280 32–26–5 69 64 February 26 Dallas 1–4 Vegas Fleury 18,261 33–26–5 71 65 February 28 Florida 5–6 Vegas SO Subban 18,281 34–26–5 73 March: 8–4–2 (Home: 4–1–1; Road: 4–3–1) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 66 March 1 Vegas 3–0 Anaheim Fleury 16,456 35–26–5 75 67 March 3 Vancouver 0–3 Vegas Fleury 18,303 36–26–5 77 68 March 6 Calgary 1–2 Vegas Fleury 18,422 37–26–5 79 69 March 9 Vegas 6–2 Vancouver Fleury 18,286 38–26–5 81 70 March 10 Vegas 3–6 Calgary Subban 19,086 38–27–5 81 71 March 15 Vegas 2–1 Dallas Fleury 18,532 39–27–5 83 72 March 17 Edmonton 3–6 Vegas Subban 18,317 40–27–5 85 73 March 18 Vegas 7–3 San Jose Subban 17,487 41–27–5 87 74 March 21 Winnipeg 0–5 Vegas Subban 18,430 42–27–5 89 75 March 23 Detroit 3–2 Vegas OT Subban 18,437 42–27–6 90 76 March 25 Vegas 1–3 St. Louis Subban 18,247 42–28–6 90 77 March 27 Vegas 3–4 Colorado Subban 16,799 42–29–6 90 78 March 29 Minnesota 3–2 Vegas Subban 18,492 42–30–6 90 79 March 30 Vegas 3–4 San Jose OT Subban 17,562 42–30–7 91 April: 1–2–0 (Home: 1–1–0; Road: 0–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 80 April 1 Edmonton 1–3 Vegas Subban 18,367 43–30–7 93 81 April 4 Arizona 4–1 Vegas Fleury 18,485 43–31–7 93 82 April 6 Vegas 2–5 Los Angeles Fleury 18,230 43–32–7 93 Legend:

Playoffs

The Golden Knights faced the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs, and were defeated in seven games. They played against each other in the 2018 Stanley Cup playoffs, where the Golden Knights defeated the Sharks in the second round in six games. 2019 Stanley Cup playoffsWestern Conference First Round vs. (P2) San Jose Sharks: San Jose won 4–3 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 10 Vegas 2–5 San Jose Fleury 17,562 0–1 2 April 12 Vegas 5–3 San Jose Fleury 17,562 1–1 3 April 14 San Jose 3–6 Vegas Fleury 18,461 2–1 4 April 16 San Jose 0–5 Vegas Fleury 18,567 3–1 5 April 18 Vegas 2–5 San Jose Fleury 17,562 3–2 6 April 21 San Jose 2–1 Vegas 2OT Fleury 18,458 3–3 7 April 23 Vegas 4–5 San Jose OT Fleury 17,562 3–4 Legend:

Player statistics Final

Skaters

Regular season Player 82 25 34 59 +2 52 82 24 32 56 +1 16 74 19 34 53 +13 14 74 20 32 52 +13 8 50 13 29 42 +14 30 78 22 19 41 +19 16 66 22 18 40 −13 36 79 12 25 37 −4 20 61 9 21 30 +22 8 65 3 26 29 0 44 80 9 11 20 +1 74 31 12 6 18 +7 6 68 5 13 18 −6 8 68 8 9 17 −10 18 81 4 12 16 +11 52 76 6 9 15 +2 6 57 3 12 15 +16 53 61 3 12 15 +5 14 ‡ 35 4 8 12 +3 24 74 2 10 12 −3 18 † 18 5 6 11 +4 5 54 8 1 9 −4 29 ‡ 13 2 5 7 +3 2 15 2 5 7 +1 10 17 1 3 4 −2 2 † 10 2 0 2 −3 0 6 1 0 1 −1 0 1 0 1 1 −1 0

Playoffs Player 7 6 6 12 +2 2 7 5 6 11 +1 4 7 2 6 8 +2 2 7 1 7 8 +1 6 7 4 2 6 +1 6 7 1 5 6 +1 0 7 2 3 5 +1 2 7 0 4 4 +2 2 6 1 2 3 +1 6 7 2 0 2 +1 17 7 1 1 2 0 8 7 0 1 1 +4 8 7 0 1 1 +2 8 1 0 0 0 −2 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0 0 0 2 7 0 0 0 −1 6 7 0 0 0 −1 17 7 0 0 0 −3 14 7 0 0 0 −1 0

Goaltenders Regular season Player 61 61 3,635 35 21 5 152 2.51 1745 .913 8 0 2 4 21 20 1,227 8 10 2 60 2.93 612 .902 1 0 0 4 1 1 60 0 1 0 4 4.03 31 .871 0 0 0 0

Playoffs Player 7 7 466:32 3 4 21 2.70 230 .909 1 0 0 0

†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.

Transactions The Golden Knights have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.

Trades Date Details Ref To Pittsburgh Penguins7th-round pick in 2019To Vegas Golden Knights7th-round pick in 2018 To Montreal CanadiensTomas TatarNick Suzuki2nd-round pick in 2019To Vegas Golden KnightsMax Pacioretty To Winnipeg JetsJimmy OlignyTo Vegas Golden KnightsFuture considerations To Minnesota WildBrad Hunt6th-round pick in 2019To Vegas Golden KnightsConditional 5th-round pick in 2019 To Ottawa SenatorsErik BrannstromOscar LindbergDAL's 2nd-round pick in 2020To Vegas Golden KnightsTobias LindbergMark Stone

Free agents Date Player Team Contract term Ref Daniel Carr from Montreal Canadiens 1-year Zach Fucale from Montreal Canadiens 1-year Alex Gallant from Tampa Bay Lightning 1-year Nick Holden from Boston Bruins 2-year Curtis McKenzie from Dallas Stars 2-year Jimmy Oligny from Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) 1-year David Perron to St. Louis Blues 4-year Paul Stastny from Winnipeg Jets 3-year James Neal to Calgary Flames 5-year Paul Thompson to Florida Panthers 2-year Philip Holm to Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL) 1-year Teemu Pulkkinen to Dinamo Minsk (KHL) 1-year Luca Sbisa to New York Islanders 1-year Jason Garrison to Edmonton Oilers 1-year Jimmy Schuldt from St. Cloud State Huskies (NCHC) 1-year

Waivers Date Player Team Ref Valentin Zykov from Edmonton Oilers

Contract terminations Date Player Via Ref

Retirement Date Player Ref

Signings Date Player Contract term Ref Maxime Lagace 1-year Brandon Pirri 1-year Ryan Reaves 2-year Oscar Dansk 2-year Colin Miller 4-year Marc-Andre Fleury 3-year Tomas Nosek 1-year William Carrier 2-year William Karlsson 1-year Max Pacioretty 4-year Shea Theodore 7-year Alex Tuch 7-year Nate Schmidt 6-year Paul Cotter 3-year Mark Stone 8-year Nikita Gusev 1-year Jonas Rondbjerg 3-year

Milestones

On March 22, 2019, Malcolm Subban recorded his 1st career NHL shutout against the Jets

Draft picks

Below are the Vegas Golden Knights' selections at the 2018 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 22 and 23, 2018, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Texas.

Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)261 Ivan Morozov C Russia Mamonty Yugry (MHL)4991 Slava Demin D United States Wenatchee Wild (BCHL)41152 Paul Cotter C United States Lincoln Stars (USHL)51353 Brandon Kruse LW United States Bowling Green State University (WCHA)5154 Connor Corcoran D Canada Windsor Spitfires (OHL)61804 Peter Diliberatore D Canada Salisbury School (USHS)6185 Xavier Bouchard D Canada Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)72085 Jordan Kooy G Canada London Knights (OHL) Notes: