Simmering hostility between Golden Knights, Oilers adds intrigue to playoff series

Vegas Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl (48) reacts after being hit in the face during the first period of game one in an NHL hockey second-round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers at T-Mobile Arena Tuesday, May 6, 2025. Photo by: Steve Marcus

One of the longest-running debates since the advent of the Vegas Golden Knights’ franchise revolves around the identity of their biggest rival.

Everyone seems to have their own answers. The Los Angeles Kings were the clear frontrunner in the Golden Knights’ inaugural season, though they were quickly then replaced by the San Jose Sharks for the next couple campaigns.

The Sharks fell off to the bottom of the NHL, however, to give the topic new life over the last several years.

Most fans would probably say the Dallas Stars are currently the Golden Knights’ No. 1 enemy given back-to-back playoff series in the last two years, which the teams split.

The Golden Knights’ players would probably have a different answer if forced to respond honestly.

It almost certainly would be the Edmonton Oilers.

The enmity between the two clubs, the last two Western Conference champions, is palpable every time they face off. It’s a big reason why their second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs semifinal series, which continues with Game 2 at 6:30 p.m. today at T-Mobile Arena, shapes up as a can’t-miss showdown. The Golden Knights dropped the series opener Tuesday.

No, the teams’ contempt for each other doesn’t seem likely to spill over publicly and play out in a war of words in the media. The Golden Knights are no longer the NHL’s spunky new kids like when the rivalries with the Kings and Sharks slightly devolved into that type of circus.

They’re now one of the pillars of the league with the perennial success that most covet. The Oilers fall within the envious group, especially as it pertains to the Golden Knights’ 2023 Stanley Cup victory and the fact that Edmonton hasn’t won the Pacific Division since Vegas joined the league. The Golden Knights just claimed their fourth Pacific Division crown in eight years.

Vegas beat Edmonton in the teams’ lone previous playoff series, in this same round two years ago, but has struggled with the star-studded Western Canadian foes overall.

Even with the six-game 2023 series win, the Golden Knights have gone 15-17 against the Oilers all-time. Edmonton is one of six teams in the NHL that Vegas has a losing record against, and the lone Pacific Division opponent.

The Oilers’ one-two punch of past Hart Memorial Trophy (the NHL’s Most Valuable Player award) winners Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl have given problems to a typically more balanced Golden Knights’ attack.

The duo frustrates anyone they play, but it’s occasionally boiled over in uglier ways with the Golden Knights.

Other than the Golden Knights’ victory on the way to winning the Cup, the 2023 series is most remembered for assistant captain Alex Pietrangelo slashing Draisaitl’s wrists with his stick at the end of a blowout Game 4 loss.

The dangerous play drew a one-game suspension, which the Oilers protested wasn’t enough. The Golden Knights largely kept their lips sealed but believed the Oilers and Draisaitl specifically were playing dirty in their own ways.

The checkered history between the two sides seems to intensify the proceedings every time they share the ice. Edmonton has won four of seven meetings since the playoff encounter with its most lopsided result coming earlier this season on December 14, when it went up 5-0 on Vegas at Rogers Place and cruised to a 6-3 victory. 

The Golden Knights appeared to take exception at how much the Oilers enjoyed the rout, but the home team wasn’t going to issue any apologies.

“It’s a rivalry,” Draisaitl told reporters afterwards. “We’ve played them in the playoffs before. They beat us. You get up for those games.”

The NHL introduced its current divisionally-seeded playoff format 11 years ago with hopes of capitalizing on selling bad blood between teams that run into each other frequently. Some fans have called for a change and more equitable seeding, but the NHL has resisted and could point to some of its success stories as a reason why.

Vegas vs. Edmonton belongs among that group.

The Golden Knights’ list of rivals has evolved over the years and probably always will, but for now, the Oilers occupy the top spot.

This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.