Golden Knights place forward Alex Tuch on injured reserve

By Case Keefer (contact)

Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2018 | 4:25 p.m.

The Vegas Golden Knights might be without one of their most exciting young players for longer than expected to start the season.

Vegas placed second-year forward Alex Tuch on injured reserve Tuesday afternoon, which means he’s out for at least a week. The 22-year-old will miss Thursday’s opener against the Philadelphia Flyers at T-Mobile Arena, and Saturday’s game on the road against the Minnesota Wild.

He’s eligible to return for a Monday Oct. 8 game at Buffalo.

Although the team hasn’t specified Tuch’s injury, he appeared to take a puck off the ankle in the second period of Sunday’s preseason win over the San Jose Sharks. He left the game and didn’t return, but coach Gerard Gallant said the injury wasn’t serious.

At practice on Tuesday, Gallant described Tuch as, “day-to-day,” and announced he would miss the game against the Flyers. But Gallant also said Tuch would not be placed on injured reserve, a decision that was apparently reversed a couple hours later.

Tuch joins Cody Eakin on the Golden Knights’ injured reserve list. Eakin, who practiced in a non-contact jersey on Thursday, can be activated prior to the Flyers’ game, but he’s, “probably not going to play,” according to Gallant.

Eakin and Tuch were both expected to play on the Golden Knights’ third line, which is instead likely to feature a lineup of Ryan Carpenter, Tomas Nosek and Oscar Lindberg.

“We played a game together against San Jose, and everything is looking good in practice,” Lindberg said. “We talk a lot and make sure we’re all on the same page.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.