May 5, 2024, was a day of mourning for the Vegas Golden Knights. Bruce Cassidy and company were eliminated by the Dallas Stars in seven games in the first round. Suddenly, the defending Stanley Cup champions were no more and an offseason with many questions loomed. Surely, this would be the long-awaited downfall of the Golden Knights, right?
Fast forward to December 31, 2024, and the Golden Knights are atop the NHL with a league-best points percentage of .716. Being atop the NHL hierarchy comes with various perks, including leading the Pacific Division and building up points for a deep Stanley Cup playoff run.
As a result, fans are filling up T-Mobile Arena (to nobody's surprise). The Golden Knights have the league's highest home attendance by capacity this season (102.3%) and have made the collective heads of hockey purists explode. Sorry, Don Cherry, but you had it coming for a while.
Speaking of the NHL, here are some stats to reflect the year that was in hockey. The Florida Panthers might be your defending Stanley Cup champions. However, the Golden Knights want their throne back and are doing whatever it takes to get it back. So let's see some of the stats that defined the year 2024.
Random stats that defined the year 2024
The Vegas Golden Knights have six third-period comeback wins this season. Overall, they have 15 come-from-behind wins, tied for the league lead with the Washington Capitals. It's a testament to Bruce Cassidy instilling an ironclad mentality and never giving up. That mentality has also contributed to the comeback cause league-wide. How, you might ask?
Well, there have been 149 multi-goal comeback wins in the NHL in 2024. That's second-most in league history for a calendar year, with 2022 reigning supreme with 178. 42% of games were of the comeback variety, resulting in wins. That's also the second-highest in NHL history for a season played with 600 games minimum.
If you're a fan of competitive sports, college football probably isn't for you, specifically in the playoffs. However, the NHL offers something different, especially in 2024. The league saw 72.3% of games close, with one goal deciding such contests. Thank goodness you got offensive masterminds like Shea Theodore and Jack Eichel on your team, eh, Golden Knights fans?
The league has also seen a goal-scoring outburst, with 6.1 goals per game scored. It marks the third straight year the league has seen a year of six goals per game or more scored. That's also the second-longest streak in 77 years for the NHL. Going with that goal-scoring bonanza is 106 hat tricks, with 21 being of the natural variety. 2024 was the third straight year where the league had more than 100 hat tricks in a season. It's also the longest streak since the 1990s.
On top of that, 2024 was the first calendar year when it started with a Winter Classic and ended with a Winter Classic. Sadly, the Golden Knights were on the losing end of the first iteration. However, they seem to have rebounded nicely, re-establishing themselves at the top of the NHL. Not bad for a team that "lost" the offseason, eh?