On Friday’s edition of Daily Faceoff Live, Matt Larkin and Mike McKenna sat down with The Athletic contributor Jesse Granger for an “All 32” segment about the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Golden Knights currently lead the Pacific Division with a 19–8–1 record to start the 2022–23 season but are currently without two key pieces in Jack Eichel and Alex Pietrangelo.
Eichel has missed the Golden Knights’ last two games with a lower-body injury but participated in the team’s morning skate on Friday. Pietrangelo is currently on a leave of absence from the team due to an illness in his family.
Granger provided updates on the two Golden Knights stars during his conversation with Larkin and McKenna on Friday.
Matt Larkin: We have the very scary, sad situation with Alex Pietrangelo and family, and of course, we have Jack Eichel, who is really putting together a tremendously resurgent season, out with that lower-body injury. So, to kick it off, Jesse, I was just looking for an update on the two of those players and if there’s any sense yet on when we’ll expect them back.
Jesse Granger: Yeah, it definitely seems like it’s going to be sooner for Eichel. Obviously, with Pietrangelo, we don’t have a lot of information. We just know he’s dealing with an illness in his family — something that is very serious, and the Golden Knights are giving him as much time as he needs, so there’s not really a way for us to know when he’ll be back.
In terms of Eichel, it’s interesting because when it first happened, you worry with a non-contact injury, especially when a guy goes off holding his leg like that. But, he did skate two days later in Boston after the injury. […] Based on everything we’ve heard and the fact that Eichel’s already skated since the injury tells me that this isn’t a long-term injury. But for the Golden Knights right now, without their best defenceman and their best forward, every day they don’t have Jack Eichel on the ice is obviously a problem.
Watch the full episode here:
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