Pietrangelo is always competitive but is judicious with displays of hostility and fury.
Late in the first period with his team seemingly dead in the water after four disappointing periods, Pietrangelo gave the Jets, his teammates and the 18,000-plus in the Fortress by the strip, a lupinus delivery of punishment which in turn served as motivation for his team.
Jets captain Blake Wheeler cross-checked Vegas winger Keegan Kolesar up high with his gloves and stick riding up to the face. Pietrangelo didn't like it and with his team largely ineffective to that point in the game and the series, he elected to wade into the fray.
"I hope it pushed our emotions up a bit. I was looking for a spark," explained Pietrangelo, who jumped Wheeler and was the only player penalized from the scrum which followed. "Keegan Kolesar can handle himself a lot better than I can handle myself. But, I'm not going to let anyone take liberties with any of my teammates. I don't care if it's the toughest guy in the league or not. I know if I stick up for him, he's going to stick up for me. I think we got momentum from the [penalty] kill. You don't want to be shorthanded. But when those penalty kills happen in situations where a teammate has stuck up for another teammate, you can feel the guys putting in a little more determination to get the kill. We used the momentum to carry us into the locker room and off we went."
Vegas trailed 1-0 after one period of Game 2 and trailed the series 1-0. But two goals in the second period and then three in the third pushed the Golden Knights to a 5-2 win which evened up the series heading to Winnipeg for Games 3 and 4.
Pietrangelo hadn't cooled off the by time he joined VGK rinkside reporter Ashali Vise for an intermission interview. Vise asked a question about a media-driven narrative surrounding Jack Eichel and Pietrangelo snapped: "That's a bunch of B.S."
To be clear, Pietrangelo wasn't angry with the question but the notion that Eichel was anything less than an excellent player and teammate. Friday on the team charter, he took the time to tease Vise suggesting to her and the broadcast team that she had been stirring the pot on Thursday.
Pietrangelo disclosed on Friday that Bruce Cassidy spoke between the first and second period as did a number of players.
For whatever reason, the Golden Knights weren't very good for large portions of the first four periods of the series. But Game 2's second and third frames saw Vegas dominate.
Maybe it's just a blip. Or maybe it's a sign of things to come. Regardless, Pietrangelo's timing and decision to howl were spot on.
