Golden Knights' biggest surprise, disappointment to start 2024-25 season

Golden Knights getting excellent production from their power play in 2024-25

The Vegas Golden Knights have been one of the most successful franchises in North American professional sports since their first year in the National Hockey League.

The Golden Knights made it to the Stanley Cup Final in their initial season of 2017-18, and they won the Stanley Cup in 2022-23. This year's version of the team appears to have an excellent chance to win the Pacific Division title and become a very difficult team to defeat in the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Head coach Bruce Cassidy has enjoyed nothing but success since he was hired by Vegas in 2022. He clearly had plenty of talent to work with at that point, and he has made sure his players compete on both ends of the ice on an every-night basis. The Golden Knights have plenty of depth on offense with players like Jack Eichel, Ivan Barbashev, Mark Stone and Tomas Hertl, but they give a full effort on the defensive end every night.

As a result, the Golden Knights are at the top of the Pacific Division with a 14-6-3 record through their first 23 games and they have an eye-catching 13 regulation victories. The team also has done exceptionally well at T-Mobile Arena, registering an 8-2-0 record in their 10 home game.

As well as the Golden Knights have played throughout their history, they have been rather ordinary when playing with the man advantage. That has turned around this year, as the Golden Knights have found a way to punish opponents when they are on the power play.

Power play hitting at a high rate for Golden Knights

Cassidy has to be very pleased with his team's power play to this point in the season. The Golden Knights rank 3rd in the league net power play as they have connected for 17 power play goals while giving up just one short-handed goal to their opponents.

They are connecting on 28.6 percent of their power play opportunities and it's no surprise that their attack runs through Eichel. The former No. 2 draft pick in 2015 behind Connor McDavid is having the best season of his career.

Eichel has scored 8 goals and 26 assists for 34 points in the team's first 23 games. He has not put the puck in the net with the man advantage but he has handed out 11 assists. Eichel has shown that he can find his teammates with pinpoint passes, and those passes turn into high-danger chances that often result in goals.

Tomas Hertl has been one of the prime recipients of Eichel's setups, as he has scored 6 power play goals and also handed out 5 assists with the man advantage. Hertl is fourth on the team in scoring with 8 goals and 10 assists.

Pavel Dorofeyev, who serves as the left wing on the top line that Eichel centers, has also been a key power play performer. He has scored five goals with the man advantage. Dorofeyev has been something of a sniper this season, scoring 12 goals and 3 assists. He is finding the back of the net on 17.6 percent of his shots this season.

While Eichel may be the team's biggest star, Stone may be the key player when the game is on the line. He has scored 21 points in 13 games, and while he is currently out with a lower body issue, he does not appear to have a long-term injury that will keep him from taking on his role as a gamebreaker in the season's most important games.

Shea Theodore is the lone defenseman on the Golden Knights' first power play unit. Theodore has a hard and accurate shot from the point, and he has seven assists with the man advantage. Overall, Theodore has 1 goal and 16 assists, and his ability to get his shot through traffic often gives his teammates a chance for tip-in attempts and rebounds.

Goaltending has just been ordinary to this point

The Golden Knights have enough depth with their top lines and defensive pairing to hold on to the top spot in the division. However, Cassidy will need his team's goaltending to improve if the team is going to hold on to first place and become a major factor down the home stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs.

The goaltending has been the responsibility of Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov to this point in the season.
Hill has taken over as the team's No. 1 goaltender, playing 15 games for Vegas. He has a 9-4-2 record with a 2,84 goals against average and .895 save percentage.

While those numbers are not overly impressive, they are not problematic either. However, to sustain a first-place finish this season, Hill is probably going to need to improve his save percentage to the .920 range.

Samsonov has a 5-2-1 record with just a 3.08 GAA. His save percentage is .904, and Cassidy would also like to see that figure improve from this point forward.