Pietrangelo raising his game at right time for Golden Knights

By Justin Emerson

Thursday, May 20, 2021 | 2 a.m.

ST. PAUL, Minnesota — The Alex Pietrangelo patrolling the blue lines for in Vegas right now is exactly who the Golden Knights need him to be.

He leads all Vegas skaters with 47:39 of ice time in the initial two games of the playoff series against the Wild, and picked up an assist on Alex Tuch’s game-winning goal Tuesday to even the series at one game apiece. 

“He’s been playing like this for a long time,” coach Pete DeBoer. “He’s been good for a long time here for us and needs to continue to be.”

This, after all, is the time of the year the Golden Knights got Pietrangelo for in free agency last offseason. He’ll get another chance at 6:30 tonight in Game 3 with the series shifting to the Xcel Energy Center in Minnesota.

Some will — fairly — point to his turnover leading to the Wild’s overtime winner on Sunday, but aside from that, he’s been quite good for Vegas so far in the playoffs. 

In a team-best 41 minutes, 58 seconds of ice time this series, he’s generated 54% of the expected goals. It’s not the highest number for the Golden Knights, but considering he’s spent a lot of his time against Minnesota’s line of Joel Eriksson Ek, Jordan Greenway and Marcus Foligno, it will do the trick.

Pietrangelo is also generating offense. He tied for the team lead with eight shot attempts in the overtime game Sunday, and his shot on goal created a rebound that Mattias Janmark scooped up and fed for Tuch’s first goal on Tuesday.

But fans should feel confident knowing he could light the lamp at any time. 

Despite getting off to a slow start with just two goals in his first 26 games, he finished the season with three goals in four games and nine points in his last 10. He wound up with seven goals and 26 points in 41 games, which equates to 14 goals and 52 points in a full 82-game season. Both figures would have been above Pietrangelo’s career averages.

“The numbers weren’t there, but all the metrics — opportunities, shots, looks, all that stuff — was at the same or at a higher rate than last year in St. Louis when he put up big numbers,” DeBoer said.

And the goals in the regular season came during big moments. His most memorable one was an overtime winner in Minnesota on May 5, but he also scored Vegas’ lone goal in the showdown with the Avalanche days later. Both of those games had a playoff feel, which is where Pietrangelo appears to be most comfortable.

Vegas knew what kind of player it was getting when Pietrangelo put his name on the dotted line in October in free agency. It may have taken him awhile for the goal numbers to come, but they were definitely there at the end of the regular season, where he was arguably the Golden Knights’ best player.

“This time of year is probably my favorite time of year,” Pietrangelo said at the end of the season. “I think as you get up to the playoffs, everything gets obviously more competitive. This year too as more fans start funneling into the building, it creates that atmosphere again that’s really fun to be apart of.”

His assist in Game 2 feels like an appetizer for what he can do. The Golden Knights signed him for his play in the postseason and that includes shutting down the opposition while generating offense, too. As the series progresses, Vegas will need him to play like he has the past few weeks.

And as a former captain of a Stanley Cup champion, rest assured he’ll be up to the task.