Vegas Golden Knights right wing Mitch Marner (93) celebrates his game-winning goal against the Los Angeles Kings in overtime at T-Mobile Arena.

LAS VEGAS — The line stretched out the door and the entire length of City National Arena. Those patiently waiting wore jerseys with the numbers and names of the first Vegas Golden Knights team in 2017-18. They were carrying photos, lithographs and other items, all waiting for signatures to be affixed to them.

This was on a Friday morning.

That’s how much the inaugural version of the Knights means to Las Vegas. Fans patiently waiting to say hi, thank coach Gerard Gallant and some of his players for the joy they brought to their lives that memorable season, one which saw the “Golden Misfits” make it to the Stanley Cup Final, losing to the Washington Capitals in five games. A season that began amid tragedy and eventually became triumphant.

There were James Neal jerseys. Deryk Engelland jerseys. Ryan Reaves jerseys. Brad Hunt jerseys. And yes, lots of Marc-Andre Fleury jerseys. The fans never forgot.

Neither did the players. Or Gallant, known to everyone as “Turk.”

“It was the most fun I had in coaching,” Gallant said. “It was a new team in a new city. Nobody was sure if it would work here. But we had a great group of guys who played for reach other and for the city. It made it special.”

What it did was set the bar high for the organization going forward. Owner Bill Foley believed his team would make the playoffs in Year One and win the Cup in six years. In 2023, it was mission accomplished.

“These were some of my favorite years of my career,” said Reaves, who recently retired from hockey after 17 NHL seasons, three-plus of those spent in Vegas. “It’s great to celebrate with the fans and see the boys again.”

“All great memories,” said Neal, who scored the game-winning goal in each of the Golden Knights’ first two victories that season and had 25 goals in 2017-18. “It definitely doesn’t feel like 10 years ago. But the memories are amazing.

“I think guys had a lot to prove. I think Turk brought us all together and we had fun. We came to work with a smile on our face every day and we enjoyed being around each other.”

Hunt said: “It was so special for us, for the city and for the game. We all had a great time.”

The team celebrated its 10th anniversary Saturday at T-Mobile Arena, coinciding with the date of its first home opener in what was billed as “Welcome To Impossible Knight.” Neal, Reaves, Hunt, Deryk Engelland, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Cody Eakin and Oscar Dansk were in attendance Saturday as was Gallant. Where was Fleury you ask? He was invited but he had a prior commitment and was unable to attend.

Unlike Thursday, where thousands of empty seats were visible in Vegas’ thrilling comeback 4-3 shootout win over Toronto, there fewer unused seats as the Knights met the Los Angeles Kings as attendance was announced as 16,768.

Those who stuck around left happy as Mitch Marner’s power play goal with 2:20 remaining in overtime gave the Knights a 2-1 win, Vegas’ fourth straight victory. The Kings, who had trailed 1-0 after Trevor Connelly’s second-period power play goal, got even with their own power play tally later in the period as Artemi Panarin beat Carter Hart from the slot.

The Kings, who remain winless at 0-2-2, found themselves shorthanded in overtime after Scott Laughton was sent off for tripping. Moments later, the Knights were celebrating as Connelly fed Mark Stone who got the puck to Marner and he finished off the Kings. The same trio had teamed up for the first Vegas goal on a nice tic-tac-toe pass sequence — Marner to Stone to Connelly for the rookie’s second goal of the year.

If there’s an issue with getting people to come out in 2026, we’ll have to see what transpires going forward. The team had been marketing this game for months after the schedule was announced in July. Perhaps we’ll get a better sense of things next Thursday when the Knights host Calgary, a team that traditionally has brought a lot of its fans to town. But a truer barometer may be next Saturday when Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins are the opponent.

Saturday was for nostalgia. It was 2017 and into 2018 that the love affair between a new hockey team and its community was fostered. The players embraced their role of being ambassadors and certainly, winning didn’t hurt the cause either.

“Nobody knew what to expect,” Hunt said. “But we quickly connected with the city and the more success we had, the more people got behind the team.”

With Gallant trusting his players, a group that was united by a common thread that their previous teams felt they were expendable, the Knights formed a bond on and off the ice. Here was a place where they felt loved, where practices were well attended with fans chanting “Go Knights Go!” as Gallant and his staff put the team through their paces inside the new practice facility. Game night became more than just a hockey match. The in-game entertainment became the envy of the entire NHL.

And with win after win, the Knights surged to the top of the Pacific Division, setting records for success by an expansion team. It carried them into the Stanley Cup Final in 2018.

“To see those guys and reflecting on that first year, we were just getting started,” said Ryan Craig, the current head coach of the Knights who was an assistant on Gallant’s staff. “Going through all the stuff that happened in the first week of the regular season, the highs and lows. When you see those guys, it’s like they picked up where they left off. A lot of good people on that team. The camaraderie of that group. How we rode that momentum wave all the way to the Stanley Cup Final.”

When asked how Gallant influenced him, Craig said: “You could see that Turk believed in what he does and he empowered the people on his staff to coach. It empowered the players, yet he held them accountable.

“He was someone who understood how to get the most out of his guys, show your players that you’re with them but push them.”

Reaves said what sticks out the most to him was how the team and the community bonded.

“When you’re winning and going for the Stanley Cup and the fans are behind you and the Fortress is buzzing, it’s hard to beat,” said Reaves, whose goal in Game 6 against Winnipeg in the Western Conference Finals helped propel the Knights into the Stanley Cup Final.

For the three remaining Original “Golden Misfits,” catching up with their former inaugural season teammates and thinking about that first year remains special.

“I’ve got a lot of good memories from the first year,” said defenseman Shea Theodore, whose goal with 2.3 seconds left helped the Knights defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning in Florida. “Coming together. Taking the city by storm. Just having fun.”

The fact Theodore is still here playing and playing well, while several of his first-season teammates have hung up their skates, means a lot.

“It’s the one thing about time, it goes by quick,” he said. “We still picture ourselves as being young, in our 20s vs. in our 30s now, It’s a lot of different.”

Brayden McNabb, who has been Theodore’s defense partner virtually their entire time in Vegas, said that first season remains special.

“It was a memorable year,” said McNabb, whose Game 4 goal helped eliminate the Kings, his former team, in the opening round of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, 1-0. “Lots of fun. It’s great to see some of the guys, catch up with them, talk about how their families are doing.”

Center William Karlsson said the fact everyone had been cast aside helped forge a bond from within.

“We were all put in the same position and we were just trying to have fun,” Karlsson said of the chemistry the team had. “We really didn’t have much pressure. No one thought anything was going to happen.

“You go out, you play, you have fun. And that turned into continuing success and after a while, we realized we were good and we just went for it. We were a really good group.”

Karlsson benefited from Gallant’s decision in early November to put him together with Jonathan Marchessault and Reilly Smith. They clicked instantly and Karlsson would have his best season in the NHL, scoring 43 goals, a team record that still stands.

“We were all fast. We played with speed. We were good on the forecheck,” he said. “We read the game the same and everyone just made plays and it worked. We clicked off the ice as well and became very good friends. To this day we’re still good friends.”

The Knights wore steel grey uniforms that night of Oct. 10, 2017. Saturday, they donned those grey sweaters for the final time as the team is retiring that style jersey. And on what was the 10th anniversary of that first-ever Golden Knights home game, McNabb has vivid memories of the 5-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes and everything that accompanied it.

“It was one of those games you’ll never forget,” he said. Deryk’s speech. No ads on the boards. We came out strong with so much energy and emotion. It’s something we’ll always remember.”