Alex Pietrangelo of the St. Louis Blues has been placed on IR for a knee injury and the assessment is stating that he could be out for a minimum of three weeks.
The injury occurred in Monday night’s game against the Minnesota Wild, when Pietrangelo had a knee-to-knee collision with the Wild’s Charlie Coyle.
#stlblues place Alex Pietrangelo on IR with Knee
— Andy Strickland (@andystrickland) February 8, 2016
Blues put Alex Pietrangelo on IR with knee injury. Worst part for me is he will be “re-evaluated in three weeks.” That doesn’t sound good.
— Ryan Kennedy (@THNRyanKennedy) February 8, 2016
Team officials have stated that the injury will cause the defenseman to miss a minimum of three weeks, as that is the time period they will be taking before reassessing the injury. “It’s a huge loss. You never want to lose anybody, but he plays close to 30 minutes a night,” is what goaltender Brian Elliott said on the Blues’ team website release. This is also the first time since the 2012-13 season that he will play less than 81 games, which he has played in three of the previous four seasons dating back to 2011-12.
As Elliott stated, this will have a major impact on the 10th ranked defense in the league, as St. Louis is currently sitting 3rd in the Central Division with 27 games to go. 10 points clear of Nashville for 3rd place in the division, while losing your number one defenseman is a scary thought for many teams, the Blues included.
Pietrangelo, 26, was drafted with the 4th overall pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft. This season he has three goals and 20 assists in 55 games for the Blues, and is also 4th in the NHL in average playing time, with his average being just over 26 minutes per game.
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Main Photo:
Main Photo Caption: PHILADELPHIA, PA – DECEMBER 21: Alex Pietrangelo #27 of the St. Louis Blues in action against the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center on December 21, 2015 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)
