The\u00a0finality of the NHL season ending can have a numbing effect. That\u2019s especially true when the curtain falls just two victories shy of a Stanley Cup Championship. As a collective, when our team wins, like we did in 2023, you earn your hangover in\u00a0outright\u00a0jubilation. When you lose, you have the hangover effect without the party.<\/p>\n
Yes, to come so close again and watch the opposition celebrate their victory on our home ice is heartbreaking — made all the more visceral by the memories of our own victory celebration a mere three years ago. A bitter end to a long and winding journey through the regular season and on into the playoffs. Golden Knights fans everywhere can attest to the ups and downs of the 82-game saga. It was a season with more plot twists than your favorite thriller.<\/p>\n
The season started with another star-signing, as Mitch Marner came over from the Toronto Maple Leafs. The storylines on Marner alone were multi-tiered. Would he play on a line with Jack Eichel? Of course, the coaching staff led with that choice, but the results were tepid. Then Marner found himself as a centerman due to an injury to William Karlsson after just 14 games played. Did I mention that Marner hadn\u2019t played center as a pro? And for good measure, Marner played the point position on Vegas’ unique five-forward power play.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marner entered the season with the Golden Knights, as did center Colton\u00a0Sissons and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon, for D-man Nic Hague and picks, from the Nashville Predators. Yet, the lineup was far from set. They added players at every position throughout the year, with goaltender Carter Hart signed as a free agent in October, defenseman Rasmus Andersson coming over from the Calgary Flames for Zach Whitecloud, a prospect and two draft picks in January, and forwards Nic Dowd and Cole Smith acquired at the trade deadline in March.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yet, as the cast of characters kept shifting, the team struggled to find its footing. A seven-game winning streak in January signaled that the team had settled in. But the team never matched that run of success again. So many late-game rallies ended in single point overtime losses or shootout losses \u2013 frustrating all involved. Those complications had Vegas fourth in the Pacific Division heading into the Olympic break, despite the January run. The prevailing notion, however, was that the team would rev it up after the break and pull away in the division.<\/p>\n
Instead, the opposite happened. The team that began with Stanley Cup contender aspirations found itself without a playoff spot guarantee with 10 games left on the schedule. With eight games left, General Manager Kelly McCrimmon brought in veteran coach John Tortorella to help spark the team out of its malaise. Talk about a plot twist. Torts rallied the team with a 7-0-1 record to not only secure a spot in the playoffs, but also to reclaim the Pacific Division title for the second year in a row.<\/p>\n
On to the good stuff \u2013 the playoffs. Carter Hart\u2019s return,\u00a0after a\u00a0three-month\u00a0injury stint,\u00a0timed up perfectly for the late season surge and playoff action.\u00a0As is often the case, each series took on a theme of its own. Against the Utah Mammoth, the struggles were real, as the\u00a0Golden Knights lost two-straight to fall behind two games to one in Round One.<\/p>\n
After an overtime win in Game 4 in Utah tied the series, Game 5 was epic. Going to double OT, The Fortress Faithful saw Mitch Marner and Brett\u00a0Howden combine on the most improbable winning scenario imaginable. The\u00a0Golden Knights\u00a0were shorthanded\u00a0and instead of playing passively, the two forechecked in the corner, surprising\u00a0the Mammoth power play.\u00a0Marner\u00a0doubled down on Howden\u2019s initial pressure, came up with the puck, found\u00a0Howden curling to the middle atop the faceoff circle, who took the pass and fired it\u00a0at once\u00a0\u2013 finding the back of the net\u00a0and sending the Medieval Maniacs into\u00a0joyous celebration.<\/p>\n
Against Anaheim, it was much like the\u00a0Utah series \u2013 back and forth\u00a0moments\u00a0of brilliance\u00a0on both sides.\u00a0Game 6 in Utah was a convincing 5-1 win\u00a0by the Golden Knights and Game 6 in Anaheim saw Vegas deliver another 5-1 exclamation point. The early warning of the Golden Knights\u2019 conviction was a goal for the ages by\u00a0Marner as he somehow pivoted and scored on a partial breakaway between his skates. It was over early with Vegas\u00a0scoring three times in the first period.\u00a0Oh, and by the way, William Karlsson returned\u00a0from injury\u00a0for this series.<\/p>\n
No small roster addition, as Wild Bill\u00a0meshed in the middle\u00a0beautifully with Howden and Marner\u00a0\u2013 now back at his traditional\u00a0winger spot.\u00a0And with Mark Stone injured\u00a0and missing\u00a0the final three games\u00a0versus the Ducks, the Golden Knights\u00a0needed Karlsson. The timing was perfect, with the Presidents\u2019 Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche waiting as the Western Conference Final opponent. In stunning fashion, Vegas swept Colorado\u00a0and won\u00a0the Western Conference\u00a0for the\u00a0third time in nine years\u00a0and as a result,\u00a0qualified for their third Stanley Cup Final appearance.<\/p>\n
We know how it tuned out, which doesn\u2019t discount the\u00a0drama against the Carolina Hurricanes in the Final.\u00a0Game\u00a03\u00a0and Marner again comes to mind \u2013 and always will \u2013 with his historic second-period hat trick plus an assist. A four-point second period that almost went for naught, as the Hurricanes scored four times in the third to send the game to OT. It took double OT for the Golden Knights to finally secure the win \u2013one that had seemed well-in-hand at the second intermission. From there, the Hurricanes found their relentless game, securing the Cup \u2013 their second Stanley Cup in exactly twenty years.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Now, this is where we began the chronicling of this Vegas thrill-ride of 2025-26. It doesn\u2019t change the outcome, but recalling the unlikely script as it unfolded has helped ease some of my numbness. Hardly a remedy, but I hope it helps you too. Even if it\u2019s just a little. Because making it to the Stanley Cup Final is no small feat \u2013 even in defeat \u2013 especially when considering the\u00a0Golden Knights’ careening course endured.<\/p>\n
Embraced\u00a0eventually, for\u00a0the\u00a0thriller it was\u2026 DE<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The\u00a0finality of the NHL season ending can have a numbing effect. That\u2019s especially true when the curtain falls…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":742501,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[556],"tags":[64,63,575,85],"class_list":["post-742500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=742500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/742500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/742501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=742500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=742500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=742500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}