Blues place Pietrangelo on injured reserve

Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was placed on injured reserve by the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday with a lower-body injury. 

Pietrangelo was injured blocking a shot in the Blues' 6-1 win against the Detroit Red Wings on Dec. 9. He left the game, then returned. 

The Blues also are without forward Jaden Schwartz, who was placed on injured reserve on Sunday with an injury to his right ankle that will keep him out for at least six weeks.

Pietrangelo, 27, has 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists), and ranks fifth in scoring among NHL defensemen. He is tied for second in goals among defensemen with Mikhail Sergachev of the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Blues captain has 326 points (72 goals, 254 assists) in 569 NHL games, all with St. Louis.

Defenseman Jordan Schmaltz was recalled from San Antonio of the American Hockey League.

The Blues (21-8-2) have won four straight games and are tied with the Lightning (21-6-2) for the best record in the NHL with 44 points. They host the Lightning at Scottrade Center on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, NHL.TV).

McDavid, Simmonds, Pietrangelo named our 'Three Stars of the Night'

The Neutral Zone hockey blog has named Connor McDavid, Wayne Simmonds, and Alex Pietrangelo as their 'Three Stars of the Night' for all NHL games that took place on October 4, 2017.

FIRST STAR - CONNOR McDAVID, F, EDMONTON OILERS

McDavid recorded the first opening-night hat trick in Oilers franchise history. He is second in NHL’s modern era (since 1943-44) with a natural hat trick in a season opener (Radim Vrbata on Oct. 3, 2013).

SECOND STAR, WAYNE SIMMONDS, F, PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Simmonds recorded the first opening-night hat trick in Flyers franchise history.

THIRD STAR - ALEX PIETRANGELO, F, ST. LOUIS BLUES

Pietrangelo scored his 3rd career regular-season OT goal to tie the Blues record by a defenseman.