The Vegas Golden Knights’ march to the Stanley Cup Final has been stunning — and not just because of their controversial roster assembling.
Vegas made the playoffs despite canning their head coach, Bruce Cassidy, with eight games remaining in the regular season, and having a pretty mediocre season overall before the postseason began.
Somewhat incredibly, Vegas had fewer wins than six teams that missed the playoffs, including the Washington Capitals. They also finished the year with the same number of victories as the San Jose Sharks, who also did not make the dance.
Teams that missed playoffs but had as many or more wins than Vegas
| Team | Wins | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Washington Capitals | 43 | Misses playoffs |
| New York Islanders | 43 | Misses playoffs |
| New Jersey Devils | 42 | Misses playoffs |
| Detroit Red Wings | 41 | Misses playoffs |
| Columbus Blue Jackets | 40 | Misses playoffs |
| Florida Panthers | 40 | Misses playoffs |
| San Jose Sharks | 39 | Misses playoffs |
| Vegas Golden Knights | 39 | Makes Stanley Cup Final |
Vegas relied heavily on its points from overtime losses, finishing the season 39-26-17 — good for 95 standings points. They had the second-most OT losses in the league, finishing above only the LA Kings.
With the current conference-based playoff bracket, Vegas earned a playoff spot by winning a weak Pacific Division, which Connor McDavid described as a “pillow fight.” The Edmonton Oilers (93 standings points) and the Anaheim Ducks (92) also got in after finishing second and third in the Pacific with fewer points than both Eastern Conference wild card teams (Boston Bruins, 100; Ottawa Senators, 99).
Although they ended the regular season with fewer points, the Oilers and Ducks both had more wins than Vegas, with 41 and 43, respectively. The Utah Mammoth, who claimed the first Western wild card spot, also picked up 43 wins on the season.
The Capitals, who tied for the most wins of any team to miss the postseason, were simply unlucky to be battling it out in the stronger Eastern Conference, falling four points short of the second wild card.
The competitiveness gap between the East and West was extreme this season, with 8 of the bottom 10 teams in the league coming from the West. The Kings made the playoffs with just 90 points (35-27-20) and lost more games than they won, with OT losses helping their points percentage immensely, like the Golden Knights.
The ability of teams with more points to miss the playoffs while other teams with fewer points make the postseason has not gone unnoticed, raising concerns among fans and league officials.
“I think a lot of general managers and the league are wondering right now how it’s possible that a team with more points doesn’t make the playoffs than a team in a different conference,” Alex Ovechkin said towards the end of March.
“Take, for example, Anaheim, Vegas, and Los Angeles. We have more points than them. But we don’t make the playoffs. They’re currently fighting for a playoff spot.”
What may be even more frustrating for Ovechkin is that Washington won both of its games this season against Vegas, earning a 5-4 shootout win late in the season and a 3-2 victory in February (Washington also won both of the two teams’ matchups last season).
After that loss to the Capitals on March 28 and hiring John Tortorella, Vegas has won more games than any other NHL team (19), going 7-0-1 to end the regular season and 12-4 in the playoffs en route to the 2026 Stanley Cup Final.
