Blues lose star defenseman Pietrangelo to knee injury

St. Louis Blues defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was placed on injured reserve with a right knee injury on Monday and club officials said he will be reevaluated in three weeks.

Pietrangelo, who has three goals and 23 points while playing in all 55 Blues games this season, was injured Saturday on a hit by Charlie Coyle of the Minnesota Wild during the third period.

The fourth overall pick in 2008 has 47 goals, 241 points and 147 penalty minutes during 441 career games with the Blues. He also has two goals and 12 points in 26 career playoff games.

Blues coach Ken Hitchcock talked about the injury on the tea’s Twitter account.

“We’ve done hell of a job in dealing with injuries to significant players,” Hitchcock said. “This is another one that we’ll adjust and keep going. This isn’t forever. It’s not a three-month injury. If we have the right attitude, we think we can handle this.”

It’s been a tough year for injuries for the Blues, who are still without injured star forward Jaden Schwartz and injured goaltender Jake Allen. Schwartz is nearing a return from an ankle injury.

Among those missing significant time this season have been defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk and forwards Paul Stastny, Patrick Berglund and Steve Ott.

The Blues’ current defense corps includes Shattenkirk, Jay Bouwmeester, Carl Gunnarsson, Robert Bortuzzo and rookies Colton Parayko and Joel Edmundson.

This story was originally published February 8, 2016 at 1:15 PM with the headline "Blues lose star defenseman Pietrangelo to knee injury."