The 2020–21 Vegas Golden Knights season was the fourth season for the National Hockey League (NHL) 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 fourth straight season after losing in the Conference Final to the Dallas Stars in the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs. On December 20, 2020, the league temporarily realigned into four divisions with no conferences due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing closure of the Canada–United States border. As a result of this realignment, the Golden Knights played this season in the West Division and only played games against the other teams in their new division during the regular season, and potentially the first two rounds of the playoffs.

On April 21, the Golden Knights clinched a playoff berth after a 5–2 win over the San Jose Sharks. They were tied with the Colorado Avalanche for first in the league, as well as first in the West Division, but lost the chance to claim their first ever Presidents' Trophy because of a tiebreaker, as they finished with fewer regulation wins than Colorado. The Golden Knights eliminated the Minnesota Wild in the First Round, with a 6–2 victory. In the Second Round, the Golden Knights defeated the Avalanche in six games. They faced the Montreal Canadiens in the Stanley Cup Semifinals, but were defeated in six games.

Standings

Divisional standings

Schedule and results

Regular season The regular season schedule was published on December 23, 2020. 2020–21 game logJanuary: 5–1–1 (Home: 4–0–1; Road: 1–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 1 January 14 Anaheim 2–5 Vegas Lehner 0 1–0–0 2 2 January 16 Anaheim 1–2 Vegas OT Fleury 0 2–0–0 4 3 January 18 Arizona 2–4 Vegas Lehner 0 3–0–0 6 4 January 20 Arizona 2–5 Vegas Fleury 0 4–0–0 8 5 January 22 Vegas 2–5 Arizona Lehner 2,712 4–1–0 8 6 January 24 Vegas 1–0 Arizona Fleury 2,672 5–1–0 10 7 January 26 St. Louis 5–4 Vegas SO Lehner 0 5–1–1 11 — January 28 St. Louis – Vegas Postponed due to COVID-19. Makeup date March 22.February: 7–3–0 (Home: 4–2–0; Road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap — February 1 Vegas – San Jose Postponed due to COVID-19. Makeup date February 13. — February 3 Vegas – San Jose Postponed due to COVID-19. Makeup date February 25. 8 February 5 Los Angeles 2–5 Vegas Fleury 0 6–1–1 13 9 February 7 Los Angeles 3–4 Vegas Lehner 0 7–1–1 15 10 February 9 Anaheim 4–5 Vegas Fleury 0 8–1–1 17 11 February 11 Anaheim 1–0 Vegas Fleury 0 8–2–1 17 12 February 13 Vegas 3–1 San Jose Fleury 0 9–2–1 19 13 February 14 Colorado 0–1 Vegas Fleury 0 10–2–1 21 14 February 16 Colorado 3–2 Vegas Fleury 0 10–3–1 21 15 February 20 Vegas 2–3 Colorado Fleury 0(outdoors) 10–4–1 21 16 February 22 Vegas 3–0 Colorado Fleury 0 11–4–1 23 — February 25 Vegas – San Jose Postponed due to COVID-19. Makeup date May 12. 17 February 27 Vegas 3–2 Anaheim OT Fleury 0 12–4–1 25 March: 12–5–0 (Home: 6–1–0; Road: 6–4–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 18 March 1 Minnesota 4–5 Vegas OT Fleury 2,605 13–4–1 27 19 March 3 Minnesota 1–5 Vegas Fleury 2,610 14–4–1 29 20 March 5 Vegas 5–4 San Jose OT Dansk 0 15–4–1 31 21 March 6 Vegas 4–0 San Jose Fleury 0 16–4–1 33 22 March 8 Vegas 0–2 Minnesota Fleury 0 16–5–1 33 23 March 10 Vegas 3–4 Minnesota Fleury 0 16–6–1 33 24 March 12 Vegas 5–4 St. Louis OT Fleury — 17–6–1 35 25 March 13 Vegas 5–1 St. Louis Fleury — 18–6–1 37 26 March 15 San Jose 1–2 Vegas Fleury 3,473 19–6–1 39 27 March 17 San Jose 4–5 Vegas Fleury 3,473 20–6–1 41 28 March 19 Vegas 4–2 Los Angeles Lehner 0 21–6–1 43 29 March 21 Vegas 1–3 Los Angeles Fleury 0 21–7–1 43 30 March 22 St. Louis 1–5 Vegas Lehner 3,750 22–7–1 45 31 March 25 Vegas 1–5 Colorado Fleury 0 22–8–1 45 32 March 27 Vegas 3–2 Colorado OT Fleury 0 23–8–1 47 33 March 29 Los Angeles 1–4 Vegas Lehner 3,950 24–8–1 49 34 March 31 Los Angeles 4–2 Vegas Fleury 3,950 24–9–1 49 April: 11–3–1 (Home: 5–1–1; Road: 6–2–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 35 April 1 Minnesota 3–2 Vegas SO Lehner 3,950 24–9–2 50 36 April 3 Minnesota 2–1 Vegas Fleury 3,950 24–10–2 50 37 April 5 Vegas 6–1 St. Louis Lehner — 25–10–2 52 38 April 7 Vegas 1–3 St. Louis Fleury — 25–11–2 52 39 April 9 Arizona 4–7 Vegas Lehner 3,950 26–11–2 54 40 April 11 Arizona 0–1 Vegas Fleury 3,950 27–11–2 56 41 April 12 Vegas 4–2 Los Angeles Lehner 0 28–11–2 58 42 April 14 Vegas 6–2 Los Angeles Fleury 0 29–11–2 60 43 April 16 Vegas 4–0 Anaheim Lehner 1,717 30–11–2 62 44 April 18 Vegas 5–2 Anaheim Fleury 1,717 31–11–2 64 45 April 19 San Jose 2–3 Vegas SO Lehner 3,950 32–11–2 66 46 April 21 San Jose 2–5 Vegas Fleury 3,950 33–11–2 68 47 April 24 Vegas 5–1 Anaheim Lehner 1,717 34–11–2 70 48 April 28 Colorado 2–5 Vegas Fleury 3,950 35–11–2 72 49 April 30 Vegas 0–3 Arizona Lehner 5,111 35–12–2 72 May: 5–2–0 (Home: 2–1–0; Road: 3–1–0) # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Record Pts Recap 50 May 1 Vegas 3–2 Arizona OT Fleury 5,671 36–12–2 74 51 May 3 Vegas 5–6 Minnesota Lehner 3,000 36–13–2 74 52 May 5 Vegas 3–2 Minnesota OT Fleury 3,000 37–13–2 76 53 May 7 St. Louis 3–4 Vegas OT Lehner 7,567 38–13–2 78 54 May 8 St. Louis 1–4 Vegas Fleury 7,567 39–13–2 80 55 May 10 Colorado 2–1 Vegas Lehner 7,567 39–14–2 80 56 May 12 Vegas 6–0 San Jose Fleury 1,654 40–14–2 82 Legend:

Playoffs

2021 Stanley Cup playoffsWest Division First Round vs. (W3) Minnesota Wild: Vegas won 4–3 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 16 Minnesota 1–0 Vegas OT Fleury 8,683 0–1 2 May 18 Minnesota 1–3 Vegas Fleury 8,683 1–1 3 May 20 Vegas 5–2 Minnesota Fleury 4,500 2–1 4 May 22 Vegas 4–0 Minnesota Fleury 4,500 3–1 5 May 24 Minnesota 4–2 Vegas Fleury 12,156 3–2 6 May 26 Vegas 0–3 Minnesota Fleury 4,500 3–3 7 May 28 Minnesota 2–6 Vegas Fleury 12,156 4–3 West Division Second Round vs. (W1) Colorado Avalanche: Vegas won 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 May 30 Vegas 1–7 Colorado Lehner 10,489 0–1 2 June 2 Vegas 2–3 Colorado OT Fleury 10,491 0–2 3 June 4 Colorado 2–3 Vegas Fleury 17,504 1–2 4 June 6 Colorado 1–5 Vegas Fleury 18,081 2–2 5 June 8 Vegas 3–2 Colorado OT Fleury 10,495 3–2 6 June 10 Colorado 3–6 Vegas Fleury 18,149 4–2 Stanley Cup Semifinals vs. (N4) Montreal Canadiens: Montreal won 4–2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 June 14 Montreal 1–4 Vegas Fleury 17,884 1–0 2 June 16 Montreal 3–2 Vegas Fleury 17,920 1–1 3 June 18 Vegas 2–3 Montreal OT Fleury 6,178 1–2 4 June 20 Vegas 2–1 Montreal OT Lehner 6,391 2–2 5 June 22 Montreal 4–1 Vegas Fleury 17,969 2–3 6 June 24 Vegas 2–3 Montreal OT Lehner 6,603 2–4 Legend:

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season Player 55 21 40 61 +26 28 48 24 27 51 +20 14 55 18 26 44 +19 39 53 8 34 42 +28 14 56 14 25 39 +19 4 51 14 21 35 +22 29 55 18 15 33 +16 28 53 9 23 32 +26 12 53 14 11 25 +10 18 41 7 16 23 +20 16 38 8 10 18 +7 10 52 5 12 17 +14 31 52 6 9 15 0 16 50 6 9 15 +9 14 44 3 9 12 −4 30 51 2 10 12 +9 24 27 4 6 10 +6 8 41 2 6 8 +10 16 29 3 3 6 −3 2 † 15 1 4 5 +5 2 37 1 4 5 0 27 6 2 0 2 0 0 17 0 2 2 +3 2 4 0 1 1 +1 0 8 0 1 1 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 2

Playoffs Player 19 4 12 16 +10 2 19 4 8 12 +8 18 13 5 6 11 +6 4 19 3 7 10 +7 4 19 1 9 10 +7 10 19 6 3 9 +8 12 19 4 5 9 +6 6 19 4 5 9 −2 8 19 5 3 8 +2 0 16 4 4 8 +1 0 15 2 5 7 +2 0 19 4 2 6 +1 9 16 0 6 6 +8 0 13 1 3 4 +5 0 19 1 3 4 +3 16 17 1 3 4 −2 4 19 1 2 3 −1 8 12 2 0 2 −2 0 10 1 1 2 +2 6 6 0 1 1 −2 4 12 0 1 1 +1 16 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 −1 0

Goaltenders Regular season Player 36 36 2,146:36 26 10 0 71 1.98 989 .928 6 0 1 2 19 19 1,155:19 13 4 2 44 2.29 505 .913 1 0 1 0 1 1 61:25 1 0 0 4 3.91 29 .862 0 0 0 0 1 0 8:15 0 0 0 0 0.00 2 1.000 0 0 0 0

Playoffs Player 16 16 972:52 9 7 33 2.04 403 .918 1 0 1 0 3 3 182:27 1 2 11 3.62 97 .887 0 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 were involved in the following transactions during the 2020–21 season.

Trades * Retained Salary Transaction: Each team is allowed up to three contracts on their payroll where they have retained salary in a trade (i.e. the player no longer plays with Team A due to a trade to Team B, but Team A still retains some salary). Only up to 50% of a player's contract can be kept, and only up to 15% of a team's salary cap can be taken up by retained salary. A contract can only be involved in one of these trades twice. Date Details Ref October 7, 2020 To Detroit Red Wings4th-round pick in 2022 To Vegas Golden Knights5th-round pick in 2020 (#125 overall) October 9, 2020 To Winnipeg JetsPaul Stastny To Vegas Golden KnightsCarl Dahlstromconditional 4th-round pick in 2022 October 12, 2020 To Vancouver CanucksNate Schmidt To Vegas Golden Knights3rd-round pick in 2022 April 12, 2021 To San Jose SharksBUF 5th-round pick in 2022 To Vegas Golden KnightsMattias Janmark* April 12, 2021 To Chicago Blackhawks2nd-round pick in 20213rd-round pick in 2022 To Vegas Golden KnightsNick DeSimone5th-round pick in 2022 To Nashville PredatorsCody Glass To Vegas Golden KnightsNolan Patrick To New York RangersNick DeSimoneWPG 4th-round pick in 2022 To Vegas Golden KnightsBrett Howden

Players acquired Date Player Former team Term Via Ref Tomas Jurco Edmonton Oilers 1-year Free agency Danny O'Regan New York Rangers Alex Pietrangelo St. Louis Blues 7-year Daniil Miromanov HC Sochi (KHL) 1-year Zack Hayes Henderson Silver Knights (AHL) 3-year Legend: Contract is entry-level. Contract begins in 2021–22 season.

Players lost Date Player New team Term Via Ref Jon Merrill Detroit Red Wings 1-year Free agency Nick Cousins Nashville Predators 2-year Curtis McKenzie St. Louis Blues 1-year Jaycob Megna San Jose Barracuda (AHL) Garret Sparks Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) Deryk Engelland Retirement Brett Lernout Colorado Eagles (AHL) Professional tryout Free agency Oscar Dansk HC Spartak Moscow (KHL) 2-year

Signings Date Player Term Ref Chandler Stephenson 4-year Gage Quinney 1-year Reid Duke Jimmy Schuldt Tomas Nosek Keegan Kolesar 2-year Lukas Cormier 3-year Pavel Dorofeyev Peter DiLiberatore Layton Ahac 3-year Maxim Marushev 2-year Mason Primeau 3-year Legend: Contract is entry-level. Contract begins in 2021–22 season.

Draft picks

Below are the Vegas Golden Knights' selections at the 2020 NHL entry draft, which was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Center in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The draft was held virtually via video conference call on October 6–7, 2020, from the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey. Round # Player Pos Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)129 Brendan Brisson C United States Chicago Steel (USHL)368 Lukas Cormier D Canada Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL)391 Jackson Hallum C United States St. Thomas Academy (Minnesota)6184 Noah Ellis D United States Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)7215 Maxim Marushev C Russia Bars Kazan (VHL)

Notes

References