The Vegas Golden Knights will embark on a new postseason journey as they face the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Vegas has qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the seventh time in franchise history and will face Minnesota in the postseason for the second time.
SERIES SCHEDULE
All times PST
Game 1: Sunday, April 20 at 7 p.m. | T-Mobile Arena | BUY TICKETS
Game 2: Tuesday, April 22 at 8 p.m. | T-Mobile Arena | BUY TICKETS
Game 3: Thursday, April 24 at 6 p.m. | Xcel Energy Center
Game 4: Saturday, April 26 at 1 p.m. | Xcel Energy Center
Game 5: Tuesday, April 29 – Time TBD | T-Mobile Arena | BUY TICKETS
Game 6: Thursday, May 1 – Time TBD | Xcel Energy Center
*Game 7: Saturday, May 3 – Time TBD | T-Mobile Arena | BUY TICKETS
All games will air on Scripps Sports and KnightTime+ locally. National broadcast information is TBD
SEASON SERIES
For the second time in franchise history, the Golden Knights swept the regular season series against the Wild with a 3-0-0 record in their three meetings. The last time Vegas beat Minnesota three times in the regular season was during the 2022-23 campaign. In their first matchup on Dec. 15 at Xcel Energy Center, Victor Olofsson scored twice to propel the Golden Knights to a 3-2 victory. Jack Eichel had a pair of assists in the game while Ilya Samsonov’s 20-save performance helped Vegas earn two points. The two teams met again on Jan. 12 at T-Mobile Arena where the Golden Knights scored four unanswered goals to claim a 4-1 victory. Pavel Dorofeyev (2G, 1A), Tomas Hertl (1G, 1A), Mark Stone (2A) and Shea Theodore (2A) each had multi-point efforts in the win. Vegas skated to a 5-1 win in their final matchup against Minnesota on March 25 at Xcel Energy Center to close out the season series. Eichel picked up a hat trick while Brett Howden and Tanner Pearson also found the back of the net. Eichel (3G, 2A), Theodore (1G, 4A) and Stone (5A) led the way for the Golden Knights against the Wild with five points each during the three contests. Fourteen different skaters registered at least one point for Vegas against Minnesota this season. Mats Zuccarello paced the Wild with three points (3A) against the Golden Knights while Kirill Kaprizov had a pair of goals in his one appearance against Vegas.
HOW THE GOLDEN KNIGHTS GOT HERE
The Golden Knights claimed the Pacific Division crown for the fourth time in eight seasons as the team marched through the 2024-25 regular season with a 50-22-10 record and 110 points. Vegas matched its franchise record for wins at home with a 29-9-3 record at T-Mobile Arena and set a new high mark for goals in a season with 274 goals in 82 games. The Golden Knights also posted a franchise-best 28.3 percent on the power play with 53 goals on the man advantage with just 187 power-play opportunities – the fewest by any team in NHL history during an 82-game season. The Golden Knights kicked off the season with an 8-4 victory against the Colorado Avalanche which sparked a season-opening eight-game home win streak. In their final home game of the season, the Golden Knights clinched the Pacific Division title with a 5-3 win against the Nashville Predators thanks to Noah Hanifin’s go-ahead goal with 1:55 left in regulation. December and March were the most productive months for Vegas as the team picked up 10 wins in each of those two months. Jack Eichel set new franchise records for assists in a season and points in a season as he led the team with 94 points (28G, 66A) in 77 games. Mark Stone finished second on the team in scoring with 67 points (19G, 48A) in his 66 appearances. Tomas Hertl set a new franchise record for power-play goals in a season as 14 of his 32 goals for the campaign came on the man advantage. Pavel Dorofeyev scored a team-high 35 goals to become the third player in Golden Knights history to reach that mark. Dorofeyev, Keegan Kolesar and Brayden McNabb were the only three players to play all 82 games for the Golden Knights in 2024-25. Shea Theodore led the blueline in scoring with 57 points (7G, 50A) in 67 games. Theodore’s 50 assists and 57 points were a career high and franchise record by a Vegas defenseman. Adin Hill set a new career high in wins as he posted a 32-13-5 record to go with four shutouts, a 2.47 goals-against average and a .906 save percentage.
HOW THE WILD GOT HERE
Minnesota clinched its playoff berth with a dramatic win against the Anaheim Ducks in its final game of the regular season on Tuesday night on home ice. The Wild finished the season with a 45-30-7 record and 97 points to claim the first wild card spot in the Western Conference. The season started strong for Minnesota as the team opened with a 5-0-2 record in its first seven games before taking its first regulation loss on Oct. 26 against Philadelphia. Minnesota’s best month of the regular season came in November when the team put up a 10-3-2 record in 15 games. Matt Boldy led the team in scoring with 73 points (27G, 46A) in 82 games to mark the first time in his career he has topped the Wild scoring chart. Marco Rossi reached new heights with 60 points (24G, 36A) in his second full season in the NHL. Kaprizov was limited by injuries in 2024-25 but still managed to post 56 points (25G, 31A) in 41 appearances. Filip Gustavsson was the No. 1 netminder for Minnesota this season with a 31-19-6 record, a 2.56 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage.
2021 STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS MATCHUP
Vegas and Minnesota met in the first round of the 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs in the NHL’s abridged season during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Golden Knights won the series in seven games after jumping out to a 3-1 lead in the series. With the series on the line, Vegas churned out a 6-2 victory in the final game thanks to Mattias Janmark’s first NHL hat trick. Janmark had six points in the series while Stone (4G, 1A), Alex Tuch (3G, 2A) and Chandler Stephenson (5A) racked up five points each during the seven-game set. Stone leads all active Golden Knights with his five points in seven postseason games against the Wild while Nicolas Roy (2G, 2A) and William Karlsson (1G, 3A) had four points apiece in the first round in 2021. The Wild have five players on their roster who all posted three points in seven games against Vegas in 2021 as Joel Eriksson Ek (2G, 1A), Kaprizov (2G, 1A), Jared Spurgeon (3A), Zuccarello (3A) and Jonas Brodin (3A) gear up to face the Golden Knights in the postseason for the second time.
2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 – Golden Knights Defeated Wild in Seven Games
Game 1: Wild 1, Golden Knights 0 (OT) at T-Mobile Arena | HIGHLIGHTS
Game 2: Golden Knights 3, Wild 1 at T-Mobile Arena | HIGHLIGHTS
Game 3: Golden Knights 5, Wild 2 at Xcel Energy Center | HIGHLIGHTS
Game 4: Golden Knights 4, Wild 0 at Xcel Energy Center | HIGHLIGHTS
Game 5: Wild 4, Golden Knights 2 at T-Mobile Arena | HIGHLIGHTS
Game 6: Wild 3, Golden Knights 0 at Xcel Energy Center | HIGHLIGHTS
Game 7: Golden Knights 6, Wild 2 at T-Mobile Arena | HIGHLIGHTS
VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS PLAYOFF HISTORY
The Vegas Golden Knights reached the postseason for the seventh time in their first eight seasons in 2025. Vegas has qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for three consecutive seasons including the organization’s first Stanley Cup title in 2023 when the Golden Knights defeat the Winnipeg Jets, Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars and Florida Panthers to win the championship. The Golden Knights have four players on their roster who have put up 60-or-more points in the postseason for the franchise in Reilly Smith (66pts in 88 games), William Karlsson (65pts in 95 games), Mark Stone (64pts in 75 games) and Shea Theodore (60pts in 94 games).
MINNESOTA WILD PLAYOFF HISTORY
Minnesota returns to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2022-23 after failing to qualify last season. In their last postseason appearance, the Wild fell in the first round to the Dallas Stars in six games. Minnesota has struggled to advance past the opening round in recent history as the team has not reached the second round since the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The deepest run Minnesota has gone on came in their first trip to the postseason in the 2002-03 season when the Wild reached the Western Conference Final where they were swept by the Anaheim Ducks. Spurgeon leads all active Wild players in postseason scoring with the team as he owns 29 points (8G, 21A) in 67 games. Brodin (16pts in 67 games), Zuccarello (13pts in 23 games), Kaprizov (12pts in 19 games) Ryan Hartman (12pts in 22 games) and Eriksson Ek (10pts in 26 games) are the only other players who have posted 10-or-more points in the postseason for Minnesota.
