The Vegas Golden Knights are having an unorthodox January. You see, the team is having a solid month with a 4-1-1 record. That includes a four-game winning streak that also catapulted the team into first place in the Pacific Division.
I know what you're thinking:
"Oh yay! We finally have a good January to bank our hopes and dreams on for once! It's about time."
Well... there's always a "but." Usually, these "but's" are smelly and reek of a Taco Bell binge gone completely wrong. You don't want to be a toilet in the middle of that sh*t storm, do you?
Obviously, you have the wretched history that smells awful. Even the 2023 Stanley Cup-winning season wasn't exempt from the month's evil wrath. That's why this season is no different. A couple of factors will make this month's evildoing imminent.
Are you ready to clean out this wretched thing, dear reader? We're about to dive into the stink bowl and see what two factors could cause a Golden Knights January to stink for the rest of the month. You better get a mask on because it's about to get extremely awful.
The Golden Knights schedule suddenly gets heavier by the end of the month
Right now, the Golden Knights can feast on the bones of a weakened January schedule. So far, they've done exactly that with wins over the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Winnipeg Jets, and the St. Louis Blues. But that's where the fun ends.
The Golden Knights will face off against red-hot teams like the Toronto Maple Leafs (twice) and the Nashville Predators. Both teams can trip up Vegas in its pursuit to become the Stanley Cup contenders that they've always been destined to be. But those aren't the only teams they should worry about.
The last three games of January consist of the following teams:
- January 27 at the Montreal Canadiens
- January 29 vs. the Dallas Stars
- January 31 vs. the Seattle Kraken
Those games won't be easy for the Golden Knights. They must band together and keep up their stellar depth scoring. Otherwise, history will rear its ugly head and repeat itself.
More Golden Knights have suffered injury setbacks
You already know the names by heart now. You know that there are Misfits who are out of commission for some time. Heck, they could be out of action for the rest of the season. But other injuries are hampering the Golden Knights.
From Bruce Cassidy:
— Danny Webster (@DannyWebster21) January 13, 2026
- Adin Hill is traveling, could start Thursday against Toronto. Lindbom likely to back up Schmid tomorrow.
- Saad and Howden not traveling. Saad is a little longer than they anticipated.
- No surgery for Karlsson, but did suffer a setback. Will stay at…
Did you read that? Brett Howden and Brandon Saad are also injured. While the latter hasn't been effective this season (two goals and five assists), losing a player of any kind means you're tapping into some Henderson Silver Knights energy.
While I have nothing against the good ol' Silver Knights, fans have seen what happens when you dig too deep into the barrel. You have fringe players like Jaycob Megna looking clueless on the ice. That will hamper Vegas in numerous ways, turning this January into a potential reincarnation of old Januaries.