The Vegas Golden Knights had a lot to celebrate in 2024, led by milestones, nail-biting victories, and highlight-reel plays. But the Golden Knights had a longer summer than they had hoped and came back to Las Vegas to kick off the 2024-25 campaign hungrier than ever. After having a successful start to the season, Vegas enters 2025 as a top team in the NHL, boasting a 25-9-3 record.
Finishing with the ninth-best record in the league (48-27-6), the Golden Knights posted 102 points and a .630 points percentage in the calendar year. Before turning the page and looking forward to 2025, take a dive into some of the stats that made Vegas one of the hardest teams to beat in 2024.
JACKPOT
Jack Eichel propelled Vegas’ offense in 2024, owning 76 points in 63 games, 20 more points than any other Golden Knight. Eichel’s 25 goals and 61 assists led all Vegas skaters, pushing his team to a 33-9-2 record when the centerman was on the scoresheet. Eichel broke several franchise records, including when he became the fastest player to reach 200 points (195 GP) in Golden Knights history.
THE ROLLING STONE
Mark Stone loved playing at The Fortress in 2024, averaging 1.38 points per game when playing on home ice. Stone’s 33 points (10 G, 23 A) in 25 games at T-Mobile Arena included his first regular-season hat trick on Jan. 15 against Nashville. The Vegas captain posted two home point streaks, each lasting nine and 11 games, respectively, leaving only five home games in 2024, where Stone did not find the scoresheet.
BARBIE PARTY
Ivan Barbashev’s shots were on target in 2024, scoring on 21.6 percent of his shots, the eighth-best mark in the NHL. Barbashev posted the best 12 months of his offensive career with 25 goals and 31 assists. The nine-year veteran notched his first career overtime goal on December 12 against the Jets, and it marked Barbashev’s team-leading fifth game-winner of 2024.
BUTCH'S BENCH
Bruce Cassidy completed his third year as bench boss of the Golden Knights. Cassidy earned his 119th win behind the Vegas bench on Dec. 23 against Anaheim. Cassidy’s 119 victories topped Gerard Gallant for the most wins by a head coach in club history. Cassidy reached 119 wins in 198 games coached to boast a 119-59-20 in three seasons. Since Cassidy took the reins in 2022-23, Vegas’ .652-point percentage is ranked fourth in the NHL.
PIETRANGE1,000
Alex Pietrangelo skated in his 1,000th career game on March 12, 2024, against Minnesota. The defenseman tallied two assists to become the sixth defenseman in NHL history to record multiple points in his 1,000th game. Pietrangelo was the first player to hit the 1,000-game mark as a Golden Knight after skating in 758 games with St. Louis and 242 with Vegas. Pietrangelo made his Vegas debut on Jan. 14, 2021, and has since set the franchise record for single single-season points by a defenseman (11-43—54, 2022-23) and is the franchise leader in average time on ice (23:58).
HERE COMES HERTL
Tomas Hertl was one of the notable additions made to Vegas’ roster in 2024 after the Golden Knights acquired the center from the Sharks on March 8, 2024. After he joined Vegas, Hertl dominated the faceoff dot with a 60.1 face-off win percentage, the best among the Golden Knights and third in the NHL. Before Hertl made his Vegas debut in 2024, the Golden Knights’ power play dragged at a 13.6 percent rate, ranked last in the NHL. Hertl made his Vegas debut on April 8 and since then the Golden Knights’ power play clicked at 28.2% (third in the NHL), with his eight power-play goals leading Vegas during the stretch.
HOWIE’S HOCKEY
Brett Howden played some of the best hockey of his career in 2024, recording 19 goals and 28 points in 74 games. He became a versatile player, adaptable enough to be moved up and down the lineup while continuing to produce. The center logged the most ice time of his career, with his highest 13 games in TOI all occurring in 2024. Howden’s increased minutes enabled him to score his first overtime goal and two shorthanded goals.
THEY GROW UP SO FAST!
Pavel Dorofeyev scored the first Vegas goal of 2024 on Jan. 4 against Florida. The young forward has blossomed in the last year and become a constant in the Golden Knights lineup. Dorofeyev’s shot was lethal and earned him 23 goals, the second-highest total on Vegas.
DEFENDING THE FORTRESS
With their 29-13-0 record at T-Mobile Arena in 2024, the Golden Knights recorded 58 points at home, the fourth-highest total in the NHL on home ice.
COMEBACK SZN
The Golden Knights had some thrilling comeback performances in 2024, one of the most memorable being on April 14, when Vegas had an incredible third-period comeback to win in overtime against Colorado. The Golden Knights entered the third period trailing 3-0 against the Avalanche, but two minutes into the frame, Barbashev notched a wraparound goal to get Vegas on the board, followed by back-to-back William Karlsson goals to send the contest into overtime. Hertl was the overtime hero after he deflected an Eichel shot from the point on the power play. Vegas’ third-period rally was its third three-goal comeback win in franchise history. The Golden Knights held a league-best .310-win percentage when trailing after two periods in 2024.
DEFENSIVE PROWESS
The Golden Knights are known for their strong backend and goaltending tandem. Vegas’ blueline generated 179 points with 29 goals, led by Shea Theodore, who posted 49 points (5 G, 49 A). Noah Hanifin was added at the 2024 Trade Deadline and had an immediate impact on the defensive core. Since his Vegas debut on March 7, Hanifin scored 10 goals as a Golden Knight, including two game-winning tallies in the postseason. The goaltending tandem of Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov has been one of the best in the NHL, with a shared 2.73 goals-against average while they shared the crease in 2024.
HARD-HITTING
The Golden Knights laid 1,842 hits last year, ranked 19th in the NHL, Keegan Kolesar’s 259 hits in 2024 were the 10th-most among all skaters. Kolesar recorded a team-high nine hits on March 19 against Tampa Bay.
BLOCK PARTY
Vegas recorded the sixth-most blocked shots in the league, Brayden McNabb led the way for the Golden Knights with 187, ranked seventh in the NHL.
