2020–21 Vegas Golden Knights season
The 2020–21 Vegas Golden Knights season was the fourth season for the National Hockey League 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.
| 2020–21 Vegas Golden Knights | |
|---|---|
| Division | 2nd West |
| 2020–21 record | 40–14–2 |
| Home record | 21–5–2 |
| Road record | 19–9–0 |
| Goals for | 191 |
| Goals against | 124 |
| Team information | |
| General manager | Kelly McCrimmon |
| Coach | Peter DeBoer |
| Captain | Mark Stone |
| Alternate captains | Alex Pietrangelo Reilly Smith |
| Arena | T-Mobile Arena |
| Minor league affiliate(s) | Henderson Silver Knights (AHL) Fort Wayne Komets (ECHL) |
| Team leaders | |
| Goals | Max Pacioretty (24) |
| Assists | Mark Stone (40) |
| Points | Mark Stone (61) |
| Penalty minutes | Jonathan Marchessault (39) |
| Plus/minus | Shea Theodore (+28) |
| Wins | Marc-Andre Fleury (26) |
| Goals against average | Marc-Andre Fleury (1.98) |
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.