St. Louis reunion on hold

Pietrangelo out because of injury

Alex Pietrangelo’s return to St. Louis looks as if it will have to wait.

The Golden Knights defenseman traveled back to Las Vegas and will undergo further evaluation of an injury, coach Pete Deboer said Wednesday.

“Obviously not a great sign that he returned home for evaluation,” Deboer said. “I’m not concerned it’s long, long term. But he’s definitely out for the foreseeable future.”

Pietrangelo blocked a shot with his left arm in the final three minutes of the third period in Saturday’s 4-0 victory at San Jose and struggled to grip his stick for the remainder of the shift. He was in obvious discomfort on the bench as the final seconds ticked away and did not play in Monday’s loss at Minnesota.

The Knights visit St. Louis for a back to back starting Friday, and Pietrangelo is not expected to join the team for the conclusion of the six-game trip.

Pietrangelo played 12 seasons with the Blues before he signed a seven-year, $61.6 million contract with the Knights as a free agent in October. In 18 games, he has two goals and 10 points along with a plus-8 rating.

Defenseman Brayden Mcnabb (lower body) returned to the lineup Wednesday against the Wild for the first time since Jan. 26, softening the loss of Pietrangelo.

“The good news is I really like the depth of our defense corps,” Deboer said. “We’ve got a lot of guys there that have shown they can step in and get the job done.”

Goalie Robin Lehner will practice with the Silver Knights on a conditioning loan, the organization announced.

Lehner has not played since Feb. 7 and is on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury.

“Great step,” Deboer said. “You know, obviously we’ve been waiting for him. There’s been multiple positive steps along the way for him to get to this point, but for him to integrate back into a full team practice is a big step to getting him back with us.”

According to the collective bargaining agreement, players on long-term IR can be assigned on a conditioning loan for up to six days or three games, whichever is longer. In five games with the Golden Knights, Lehner is 3-1-1 with a 2.96 goals-against average andan.890savepercentage.

Also, goaltender Logan Thompson was recalled to the Golden Knights, and forward Patrick Brown was assigned to the taxi squad. Goaltender Oscar Dansk, who notched his first NHL victory since 2017 last week, and forward Tyrell Goulbourne were assigned to the Silver Knights.

The Silver Knights’ game against Colorado that was postponed Monday was because of a false positive COVID-19 test, the organization said.

The team was allowed to resume practice Wednesday at Lifeguard Arena.

A makeup date for the game against Colorado has yet to be announced by the American Hockey League.