The 2018–19 Vegas Golden Knights season was the second season for the National Hockey League 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.[2]
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.[3][4] On March 29, 2019, the Golden Knights clinched a playoff spot after the Arizona Coyotes' 3–2 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche.[5]
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[6] major penalty.[7]
The preseason schedule was released on June 18, 2018.[9]
The regular season schedule was released on June 21, 2018.[17]
Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Overtime/shootout loss (1 point)
The Golden Knights faced the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs,[100] and were defeated in seven games.[101] 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.[102][103][104]
Legend: Win Loss
Final[112]
†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.
The Golden Knights have been involved in the following transactions during the 2018–19 season.
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.
Notes:
Former NHL referee Kerry Fraser believes the five-minute major penalty that changed the course of Game 7 between the Sharks and Vegas Golden Knights was a bad call, and it turns out the league agrees.
Jones, who was pulled for ineffectiveness in two of the first five games, made 34 saves to close out the series and give the Sharks their first comeback from 3-1 down in a series in seven tries.