Knights leading scorer Jack Eichel misses game against Avalanche because of upper-body injury

DENVER (AP) - The Vegas Golden Knights have ruled out leading scorer Jack Eichel for their game Tuesday night against Colorado because of an upper-body injury.

Eichel is listed as day-to-day. The Golden Knights also scratched defensemen Nicolas Hague and Alex Pietrangelo due to an illness.

The team remains in firm control of the Pacific Division with the regular season coming to a close next week. Vegas entered the game against the Avalanche with a five-point lead over the Los Angeles Kings.

Vegas is starting to round back into health. Forward Tomas Hertl has returned to practice after missing several games with an upper-body injury. Backup goalie Ilya Samsonov has been practicing with the Henderson Silver Knights, the team’s AHL affiliate and may be back soon. He hasn’t played for Vegas since March 23.

Eichel has struggled over his last four games, with no goals or assists. His next score will be his 100th with Vegas. He’s trying to join Jonathan Marchessault (192), William Karlsson (159), Reilly Smith (127) and Mark Stone (108) as players who’ve notched 100 or more goals in a Vegas sweater.