Blues teammates praise Pietrangelo: 'He's the captain of the back end'

Alex Pietrangelo continues to blossom into one of the game's elite defenseman.

An offensive outburst saw him score six points in seven games against the Chicago Blackhawks, but the stalwart Blues defender is making his presence felt in other ways versus the Dallas Stars.

Pietrangelo didn't score any points in Game 2 Sunday, but he logged 35:37 of ice-time, and his teammates are always comfortable when he's on the ice.

"He's the captain of the back end," Blues goaltender Brian Elliott told ESPN's Craig Custance.

The 2008 fourth overall pick is tasked with the opponent's top forwards every game, and Blues head coach Ken Hitchcock - who's worked with Pietrangelo in St. Louis and at the Sochi Olympics in 2014 - believes he thrives under pressure.

"Petro is always a good player when the stakes are the highest," he said.

On a defensive corps that features veteran Jay Bouwmeester, rookie standout Colton Parayko, and offensive threat Kevin Shattenkirk, it's Pietrangelo's tendencies in the defensive zone that stick out to Blues captain David Backes.

"We'll call them short plays, but they're not small, they're huge," Backes said. "He gets into a corner, he can dig a puck out and start the breakout, that takes the pressure off a little bit. We're able to get the puck up the ice rather than being occupied by them."

Pietrangelo's stable defensive play has garnered the attention of his fellow blueliners as well.

"You see it being done and you think to yourself, 'If I'm in that situation, I can make that play.' He's just leading that way for us on the back end," Shattenkirk said. "It's tremendous."