The Vegas Golden Knights will likely be getting a key reinforcement back into the lineup for a heavyweight matchup with the Western Conference-leading Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.
“Alex Pietrangelo is here at morning skate and taking rushes with Noah Hanifin, indicating he should be back in the lineup,” confirmed FOX 5 Las Vegas’ Vince Sapienza.
Pietrangelo has missed each of the Golden Knights’ last four games; the team went 3-1 in that span. He was a late scratch for a 5-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild on March 25 and hasn’t played since. But he was back on the ice for the team’s last two practices and head coach Bruce Cassidy said on Wednesday he could be an option against Winnipeg.
“We’ll see about tomorrow,” Cassidy confirmed, per NHL.com’s Paul Delos Santos. “I’m sure I’ll get an update today here in a minute, see how he does in the morning, and he could be available. I’m not saying he will be, but he could be.”
Pietrangelo has managed four goals and 32 points over 67 games for the Knights this year, adding a plus-11 rating while averaging a shade over 22 minutes of ice time. He’s set to slot back in on the second D-pair alongside Hanifin, and could rejoin the second powerplay unit that also features Hanifin, Ivan Barbashev, Nicolas Roy and Victor Olofsson.
Vegas embarked on a three-game road trip that began in Minnesota and also took the team through Chicago and Nashville late last week. The Golden Knights defeated the Blackhawks 5-3 on Friday night before beating the Predators 3-1 the next day.
That had the Pacific Division-leading club on a six-game winning streak, which was snapped by the Edmonton Oilers on the strip on Tuesday night.
Tomas Hertl also getting close to a return
Along with Pietrangelo, key forward Tomas Hertl is progressing after sustaining an upper-body injury in a 4-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on March 23.
“He wants to be around his teammates; he’s been putting the work in,” Cassidy said on Wednesday. “We weren’t sure how it was going to come along, but good to see him back out there. That’s the medical team’s return-to-play protocol. It’s always step one, [to] get around your teammates. So, we’ll see how he progresses from there, how he reacts to today. Having him out on the ice, obviously, is a positive.”
Hertl joined Wednesday’s practice wearing a noncontact jersey, and continues working toward a return. He’s been fantastic for the Golden Knights in 2024-25, currently second on the team with 31 goals and third with 59 points over 70 contests.
He had been especially potent before the untimely ailment, managing eight goals in 10 games ahead of the win over Tampa a week-and-a-half ago.
Despite a regulation loss to the Oilers on Tuesday, the 45-21-8 Golden Knights continue to surge, and have a five-point lead on the Los Angeles Kings at the top of the division. Both teams have eight games left in their respective regular-seasons.
Puck is set to drop between the Golden Knights and Jets — in what could be a potential Western Conference Final preview — just past 10:00 p.m. ET from Las Vegas.
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