The Vegas Golden Knights have ruled skaters Mark Stone and Alex Pietrangelo out just ahead of a game against the Minnesota Wild. The best team in the West Division will have to survive a tough game without two of their leaders. Justin Emerson of the Las Vegas Sun announced the absences early Monday evening.
Mark Stone and Alex Pietrangelo are OUT for the Golden Knights against the Wild
— Justin Emerson (@J15Emerson) March 9, 2021
Golden Knights Mark Stone, Alex Pietrangelo Out
The two Vegas skaters are two of the most important players on the team. Stone leaders all Golden Knights with six goals and 27 points in 21 games. Pietrangelo is one of the top defencemen with two goals and 10 points in 18 games. Both are invaluable possession players and both feature heavily on either the power-play, penalty-kill, or both.
The Ottawa Senators originally drafted Stone in the sixth round of the 2010 Draft while Pietrangelo was a first-round pick for the St. Louis Blues in 2008. Both are among the best players in the league at their respective positions. Stone has blossomed into an excellent forward with 155 goals and 412 points in 470 games. That is huge for such a late draft selection. Pietrangelo has also been superb as befitting his draft pedigree with 111 goals and 460 points in 776 hits. These are two vital pieces if Vegas is going to maintain its pace in 2020-21.
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How Vegas Replaces Stone and Pietrangelo
There will some shuffling for at least one game with these two out, but Vegas is deep enough to handle it. Look for increased minutes for some of the team’s younger forwards as they shift up the depth chart for a brief time. This could be a prime opportunity for someone like Keegan Kolesar to contribute slightly more. The same can be said for defenders like Nicolas Hague and Dylan Coghlan, both of whom average fewer than 17 minutes per game. The Golden Knights are fine for at least one game. However, their Stanley Cup chances decrease if either Stone or Pietrangelo are out long-term.
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