Pietrangelo away from Golden Knights due to family matter

The Vegas Golden Knights will be without Alex Pietrangelo for an unspecified amount of time moving forward, as the veteran defenseman is currently away from the team due to a family illness.

Pietrangelo, 32, is in the midst of a very nice bounce-back season for the Golden Knights with three goals and 21 points through just 23 games. It is just the season he needed to instill confidence from both the fanbase and, more importantly, the organization, as he is in just the third-year of an eight-year, $61.6 million deal.

It isn’t known who in Pietrangelo’s family is dealing with the illness, and isn’t expected to be made public at any time. The team sent out a statement on Twitter asking all to respect his privacy, and didn’t give any estimated return date. From a hockey perspective, one hopes that he will be back soon, but as we all know, there are many things in life far more important, this being one of them.

Pietrangelo’s presence was missed in a big way on Wednesday night, as the Golden Knights had one of their weaker efforts of the season in what was a 5-1 loss to the New York Rangers. It was a rough night for many, including the top blue line pair in Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb, who both finished the night as minus ones. They will look to get back on track this Friday in a game against the Philadelphia Flyers, one in which they will likely be without Pietrangelo once again.