LAS VEGAS — The preseason may not count in the standings, but Thursday night at T-Mobile Arena gave the Vegas Golden Knights plenty to evaluate with the regular season now just days away.
In their first preseason game at home, the Golden Knights rallied from a two-goal deficit and scored twice in the final seven minutes of regulation before Jack Eichel finished the comeback in overtime, lifting Vegas to a 5-4 victory over the Utah Mammoth.
The win pushed Vegas to 3-0 in the preseason following victories over the Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks. The Golden Knights will close out the preseason Saturday against San Jose before opening the regular season Tuesday, Sept. 29, against the Chicago Blackhawks.
But Thursday’s game was about more than maintaining a perfect preseason record. It offered an early glimpse at some of the biggest questions surrounding a Golden Knights team entering a new era.
A new coach, familiar expectations
Vegas enters its 10th season with a new voice behind the bench.
Ryan Craig, who joined the Golden Knights organization during its inaugural 2017-18 season as an assistant coach, spent the previous three seasons as head coach of the Henderson Silver Knights before being promoted to become the fifth head coach in franchise history.
Craig inherits a team that reached the Stanley Cup Final last season before falling to the Carolina Hurricanes in six games. Vegas is looking to build on that run while navigating the first 84-game regular season in NHL history since the 1990s. That means Craig has a relatively short runway to get his team ready.
Thursday’s game was another opportunity to establish the structure and chemistry that will define his first season behind the Golden Knights’ bench.
Replacing 37 goals
One of the biggest questions entering the season is where Vegas will replace the offense lost with Pavel Dorofeyev.Dorofeyev was traded to the New York Rangers during the offseason after scoring a career-high 37 goals and 64 points in 82 games last season. His 20 power-play goals also set a Golden Knights franchise record. Vegas will need multiple players to help fill that void, and Victor Olofsson could be one of them.
Olofsson returned to Vegas this offseason after spending the 2024-25 season with the Golden Knights, when he recorded 15 goals and 14 assists in 56 games. On Thursday, Olofsson provided an early reminder of what he can bring.
With Shea Theodore finding him on the right side of the faceoff circle, Olofsson stepped into a one-timer and blasted the puck past Utah goaltender Sebastian Cossa to open the scoring. It was exactly the type of shot Vegas will need more of this season.
The power play remains a work in progress
Craig has emphasized becoming more aggressive on the power play, particularly when it comes to getting pucks toward the net. Against Utah, Vegas finished 1-for-4 with the man advantage. The Golden Knights had opportunities earlier in the game but struggled to turn their possession into dangerous chances. With so many talented playmakers on the roster, the temptation can be to look for one more pass instead of putting the puck on net.
That became particularly noticeable as Vegas searched for a goal late in the third period. With the Golden Knights trailing 3-2, Eichel ripped a shot toward the net on the power play. Cossa made the initial save, but Mark Stone was waiting for the rebound in the slot and buried it to tie the game with 6:54 remaining. It was a simple sequence — shot, rebound, goal — and perhaps a blueprint for what Craig wants his power play to become.
Vegas refuses to go quietly
The Golden Knights still had work to do. Utah regained the lead with 1:31 remaining when Tomas Lavoie finished a rush to make it 4-3. Instead of folding, Vegas immediately pushed back. With Adin Hill pulled for the extra attacker, Mitch Marner found Tomas Hertl in front of the net, and Hertl tapped the puck home with 26 seconds remaining to force overtime. Vegas had erased a two-goal deficit and tied the game twice in the third period.
Less than a minute into three-on-three overtime, Eichel took the puck and ripped a wrist shot past Cossa on the far side, giving Vegas its third straight preseason victory. Because it was preseason, the teams still proceeded with a shootout after overtime for evaluation purposes, but the official game result remained a 5-4 overtime victory for Vegas.
The arena, meanwhile, briefly appeared to celebrate before the game was officially over, with the traditional flamingos making their way onto the ice.
Goaltending remains another storyline
While the offense provided plenty of positives, goaltending will be another area to monitor as the regular season approaches. Adin Hill received the start Thursday with Carter Hart expected to be part of the goaltending picture for Vegas this season. Hill allowed four goals on 21 shots against Utah. The Golden Knights’ goaltending situation will be closely watched throughout the season, particularly as Craig takes over a team with championship aspirations.
Hart, Hill and Akira Schmid all appeared for Vegas last season, while Hart finished the regular season on a six-game winning streak and posted a .930 save percentage after returning from injury in April.
Season X is almost here
There is still one preseason game remaining, but the calendar is quickly moving toward games that count. Vegas has already shown flashes of what made last year’s team successful — offensive talent, late-game resilience and the ability to create big moments when the game is on the line.
But there are also legitimate questions.
Can the Golden Knights replace Dorofeyev’s 37 goals?
Can Craig transform the power play into a more aggressive unit?
Can Vegas establish consistent goaltending?
And perhaps most importantly, can a team that reached the Stanley Cup Final last season make another deep postseason run under a new head coach?
Those questions will not be answered during the preseason. But Thursday night provided the first look at how the Golden Knights might begin answering them.
