Pietrangelo believes Oilers are targeting him: 'It's pretty obvious'

It's no secret that the Edmonton Oilers have made a conscious effort to finish their checks on multiple Vegas Golden Knights players, including veteran defenseman Alex Pietrangelo.

However, Pietrangelo, who was just suspended one game for slashing Leon Draisaitl, believes the Oilers are targeting him to the point that it warrants supplemental discipline.

"It's pretty obvious what's going on. I mean, there's premeditated stuff, I'm pretty sure, coming at me," Pietrangelo said Saturday. "(The department of player safety) didn't really seem to care in the meeting, but I'll get up and take it."

Pietrangelo also hinted that some Oilers players have been embellishing.

"You know, I'm not going to lay on the ice like what's going on and we've been seeing," he said. "So, I'll get up and play the game the way it needs to be played."

Pietrangelo was notably cross-checked from behind into the boards moments before he slashed Draisaitl.

Another Evander Kane and Alex Pietrangelo incident unleashes some anger in Edmonton#LetsGoOilers | #VegasBorn pic.twitter.com/2faZ83wjmg

- Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights (@HockeyDaily365) May 11, 2023

The punishment he's been taking may have led to him uncharacteristically losing his cool, with the slash resulting in Pietrangelo's first suspension of his 15-year NHL career.

Pietrangelo believes the overall feistiness of the series gives the Golden Knights more motive to win.

"Oh yeah, absolutely," Pietrangelo said when asked if there's extra motivation. "I'm sure the rest of the guys do, too. I'm sure the guys had a little extra motivation last night. We're a tight group in there. We got each other's back. Sitting there last night watching the game, I was sweating. It's not fun to watch."

Pietrangelo, who leads all Golden Knights defensemen in points (six) and average time on ice (24:37) during the playoffs, will get back into the lineup for Game 6, where Vegas will have a chance to eliminate the Oilers to advance to the Western Conference Final for the fourth time in the franchise's six-year existence.

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