(1-26-21) Blues-Golden Knights Gameday Lineup

By LOU KORAC
The moment Alex Pietrangelo put pen to paper and officially severed ties with the only franchise he ever knew in his 12-year NHL career, the Vegas Golden Knights defenseman -- jeez, that still feels weird writing -- knew this day would come.

Pietrangelo will have his day tonight when he faces his former Blues teammates for the first time when Vegas (5-1-0) hosts St. Louis (3-2-1) at T-Mobile Arena (8 p.m.; FS-MW, ESPN 101.1-FM).

The moment Pietrangelo, 30, became an unrestricted free agent Oct. 9 and thus ended any chance of the Blues being the only team that could sign him to an eight-year contract at 11 p.m. (CT) the previous night, the chance grew that the fourth overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft would not wear the Bluenote anymore.

Now he's moved on after signing a seven-year, $61.6 million contract with Vegas that included what the Blues would not give him, a no-movement clause, and thus a chapter was turned, and it's time to get the formalities out of the way.

"Me and my wife were talking about it. I think if it was my first game here, maybe it would be a little bit different," Pietrangelo said Monday. "We've played, what, six games now. We kind of passed that point. 

"I knew this day would come eventually. I've been joking that I guess if you're going to do it, do it eight times in one year and get past it. I feel comfortable about it and ready to kind of get it over with so we can continue to move forward."

Under normal circumstances, the Blues and Golden Knights would be in different divisions and play three times in one season, but in the unique 2020-21 Covid-19 season, they happen to be playing eight times, so there will be not only familiarity but some determination to knock the other down a notch or two when given the chance.

"We get to see him on the ice in different colors, but it's good to see him again," Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said of his former teammate. "He's been a good friend for five years in St. Louis and still is. Looking forward to seeing him and should be a good battle against him.

"We talk here and there, every once in a while just checking in, seeing how things are going."
Pietrangelo was captain of the Blues the past four years but passed the torch to Ryan O'Reilly, who said there was a vibe around the team once free agency officially began that the marriage would likely end.

"You hear the rumors and such," O'Reilly said. "I think I knew something was coming. We were hoping obviously he would sign with us, but it's part of the game. It happened. We knew Vegas was a frontrunner. It is what it is, business side of it.. It's going to be weird seeing him out there in a different uniform, but it is what it is."

Also under normal circumstances, and nothing is yet normal, Pietrangelo would have hosted most, if not all, of his former Blues teammates Monday night at his plush, new $6 million, 8,321-square-foot home in the suburb of Summerlin but contact these days away from the ice for players is out of the question. 

"It would have been nice to check out," O'Reilly said with a smile.

So instead, when the puck drops tonight, the formalities will be dispensed and game faces put on with different objectives.

"It's not going to be different for me as a coach, but I'm sure on his side of things, he's coming back, playing against St. Louis," Blues coach Craig Berube said of his former No. 1 defenseman. "He's been with one organization until now and won a Stanley Cup with St. Louis, so it will be a little different for him and for our guys too. That's the way it goes though. That's part of the league and after the first couple of shifts, that's all going to go away."
Pietrangelo ranks high in Blues history in a number of categories, including fifth in games played (758), 109 goals scored (27th overall, second behind Al MacInnis' 127 among defensemen), third in assists (341) and ninth in points (450).

And most importantly, he met his wife Jayne and all his children (four) were born in St. Louis.

"As you all know, wife's from St. Louis, so it's a whole different ballgame for us," Pietrangelo said. "I've had some family come visit us, which is nice. I think once you get the kids in school and kind of get a routine, you start feeling more comfortable. It's been a couple months now, so we feel comfortable where we're at as a family and ready to just play (tonight) so I can move on."

- - -

The Blues open a four-game trip tonight against Vegas twice and Anaheim twice and they come on the heels of a discouraging 6-3 home loss against the Los Angeles Kings on Sunday, which dropped the Blues to 0-2-1 in the second games of these two-game series against opponents (the Blues are 3-0-0 in openers).

"We're all disappointed having the chance to get four points from LA there the second game," Berube said. "My opinion, we let that game get away from us for no reason. We're in complete control, it's 1-0 ... there's always things you can do better in a game, but you're not always going to play your best hockey, but you have to keep games in front of you. We didn't do that. We let two goals up at the end of the first period and the first period put us on our heels for the second period, we weren't very good and then in the third period, played a great period. We tried to make a comeback but it's just got to be more consistency in everybody's play."

Vegas has jumped out to a strong start, including starting 4-0-0 on home ice, but it seems when the Blues are backed into a corner and going up against a formidable opponent, they find a way to come out swinging and earn a result. Look no further back than the 2019 Cup run and many instances last season when things were wobbly on the rails.

"I think so. They're a very good team over there, we're a very good team," Parayko said. "It should be a good game tonight obviously. It's going to be on us to bring our 'A' game and make sure we're ready for this challenge. Coming into Vegas, we know it's not an easy place to play either with or without fans. We're looking forward to it, but it's on us to make sure we can control what we can control coming and being prepared, having the right mindset and just working hard, so that's on us and we're going to have to bring it tonight."

"Yeah, normally it does," Berube said. "I think we've played Vegas over the last couple of years pretty well and there's been some pretty exciting games. It'll be a tough game, they're a real good hockey team obviously. They know how to win, veteran team. We're going to have to play a real solid hockey game here tonight and we're really going to have to do a good job checking. They're fast and they create a lot of things off the rush, so it's going to be a tough game."

After the loss Sunday, Berube spoke of the attitude of the team and when asked why it slips, he said that's a better question for the players.

"I think he's absolutely right," O'Reilly said. "It's not an X's and O's thing or us necessarily executing. It's just the overall effort and commitment. It's playing to our identity and we're too sporadic with it and not consistent with it. You can see it when that happens, bounces don't go our way and we overwork and it's frustrating, but the good news is I think as a group we all know that. We know that in order to get out of this, we have to come together and collectively work our way out of this. We're excited, we know we're a good team, it's just being consistent with our identity."

- - -

Berube wouldn't make mention of any potential lineup changes tonight other than to say that Parayko and Zach Sanford have replaced Vince Dunn and Robert Thomas on the second power play unit.

The Blues' power play is 30th in the league at 5.6 percent (1-for-18).

"Yeah, just trying to find something here," Berube said. "We'll see what happens, but that's basically it."

Parayko started the season on that unit and will quarterback it tonight.

"We're just going to be looking to get pucks towards the net, just make it tough on the opposing penalty kill," Parayko said. "... That's the goal is to get a power-play goal and help the team out, but if that's not the case, just try and gain some momentum. That's the secon-best thing is get some momentum and hopefully we can get another goal or carry some momentum into later on in the game or the next period during that power play."

As for Dunn, who had a tough game Sunday, was a minus-2 and will be scratched tonight, Berube said, "He just has to keep the game in front of him more than anything, the 1-on-1 plays, just some puck plays where the turnovers turn into goals or real good chance against. Just manage the game a little bit better that way and lineup changes, I'm not sure yet. I'll make a decision in warmup."

- - -

The Blues recalled center Jacob de la Rose from the taxi squad and recalled defenseman Scott Perunovich from Utica of the American Hockey League to the taxi squad.

Also, defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, out the past four games with an upper-body injury, is on the trip but no indication of when he could resume skating or even playing.

- - -

The Blues' projected lineup (will be updated during warmups):

Zach Sanford-Ryan O'Reilly-David Perron

Jaden Schwartz-Brayden Schenn-Jordan Kyrou

Mike Hoffman-Robert Thomas-Tyler Bozak

Kyle Clifford-Ivan Barbashev-Oskar Sundqvist

Torey Krug-Colton Parayko

Marco Scandella-Justin Faulk

Niko Mikkola-Carl Gunnarsson

Jordan Binnington will start in goal; Ville Husso is the backup.

Healthy scratches include Vince Dunn,Sammy Blais and Jacob de la Rose. Vladimir Tarasenko (shoulder) and Robert Bortuzzo (upper body) are out.

- - -

The Golden Knights' lineup:

Max Pacioretty-Chandler Stephenson-Mark Stone 

Jonathan Marchessault-William Karlsson-Reilly Smith

Alex Tuch-Nicolas Roy-Keegan Kolesar

William Carrier-Tomas Nosek-Ryan Reaves 

Brayden McNabb-Alex Pietrangelo
 
Alec Martinez-Shea Theodore
 
Nic Hague-Zach Whitecloud 

Robin Lehner is expected to start in goal; Marc-Andre Fleury would be the backup.

The Golden Knights have no healthy scratches nor report any injuries.