Golden Knights’ murky Alex Pietrangelo, Pavel Dorofeyev injury updates

The Vegas Golden Knights lost Game 1 to the Edmonton Oilers on home ice on Tuesday night. After taking a 2-0 lead early in the game, they wilted down the stretch, allowing four straight goals to lose the game. They were without two of their key players for that game and may be again on Thursday. The Golden Knights got murky updates on Alex Pietrangelo and Pavel Dorofeyev ahead of Thursday’s Game 2.

“Nothing new,” Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said of Dorofeyev and Pietrangelo, per NHL.com’s Paul Delos Santos. “We’ll keep this day-to-day.”

The Golden Knights are built around their elite defensive core. That started when they signed Alex Pietrangelo from the St Louis Blues before the 2021 season. He has been one of the best defenders in the league throughout his career and helped Vegas win the Stanley Cup in 2023. Without him, it will be hard to control Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Dorofeyev was one of the key forwards on the Golden Knights throughout the entire season. He played all 82 games this season, more than the previous three years combined. He scored 35 goals, added 17 assists for a 52-point season. All of those numbers are more than his first three years’ total as well.

If the Golden Knights do not get at least one of these players back for Game 2, they could be in trouble. The Oilers battled back against their short-handed defense and scored two goals in the final five minutes to win. Vegas cannot go to Edmonton down 2-0 if they want any chance of winning this series. And winning on Thursday will be difficult without their top defender and one of their top goal scorers.

The Golden Knights and Oilers continue their seven-game series on Thursday night in Vegas with Game 2. Puck drop is at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time.