The Vegas Golden Knights (39-26-17) beat the Seattle Kraken (34-36-11), 4-1, in the final game of the regular season on Wednesday evening at T-Mobile Arena to clinch the Pacific Division.
HOW IT WENT DOWN
After a scoreless first frame, Shane Wright got Seattle on the board first with a goal at 2:24 in the middle period. Shea Theodore pulled the game even, 1-1, with 2:25 remaining in the second frame. Nic Dowd won the offensive zone draw and fed the puck to Reilly Smith, who redirected it to Theodore for a shot that beat Nikke Kokko over the left pad. Mitch Marner gave the Golden Knights their first lead of the game with a goal at 1:23 in the final period. Brayden McNabb scooped up the puck from Jack Eichel’s face-off win and fired a shot from the blue line, and Marner tipped the puck into the back of the net. Smith extended the Golden Knights’ edge 3-1 with eight minutes remaining in the contest. Rasmus Andersson sent the puck across the slot to Smith for a top-shelf one-timer. Less than five minutes later, Smith netted his second of the night to make it 4-1. Smith capitalized on a scramble in front of the net and tapped the puck past Kokko, with Tomas Hertl and Kaedan Korczak recording assists on the goal. Carter Hart stopped 22 out of 23 shots to seal the final victory of the regular season.
TOP PERFORMERS
Reilly Smith: Smith scored a pair of goals and picked up an assist to record his fifth multi-point game of the season.
Carter Hart: Hart tallied his sixth straight win since his return to the lineup on April 2, posting a .957 save percentage in the victory.
Shea Theodore: Theodore netted his 10th goal of the season with his game-tying goal.
Mitch Marner: Marner recorded his 24th goal of the season to boost his point total to 80 (24G, 56A).
VGK STATS OF THE KNIGHT
The Golden Knights won the Pacific Division title for the fifth time in nine seasons, the most titles of any NHL franchise since 2017-18.
Jack Eichel extended his point streak to four games, with eight points (2G, 6A) during the stretch.
Reilly Smith netted three goals in his last two games and recorded a total of four points (3G, 1A).
The Golden Knights led the league scoring in the third period for the second year in a row.
John Tortorella improved his record to 7-0-1 behind the Vegas bench.
Mitch Marner tailed his fifth straight 80-point season, which is the fifth-longest streak among all active NHL players. Marner also became the second VGK player to record 80 points in a single season in franchise history.
The Golden Knights became the first NHL club to record at least 20 home wins in their first nine seasons.
ATTENDANCE: 18,090
WHEN VGK WINS, YOU WIN!
Fans can receive six free boneless or traditional wings at any Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant location throughout the greater Vegas metro area with a $10+ qualifying pre-tax purchase of food and non-alcoholic beverages, available for two days after any 2025-2026 VGK Win.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Golden Knights won the Pacific Division and clinched home-ice advantage in the first round against the Utah Mammoth for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Game 1 will be available on Scripps Sports (The Spot-Vegas 34 in Vegas) and KnightTime+, or listen live on FOX Sports Las Vegas 94.7/1340 and Deportes Vegas 1460.
