The horrifying reason for Alex Pietrangelo's absence.

Las Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo has recently been on the receiving end of some criticism after taking a mid-season leave of absence from the team, but the details of his recent ordeal are likely to make those criticisms evaporate into thin air.

Pietrangelo returned to the Golden Knights on Saturday and spoke to the media about that recent ordeal for the first time, revealing the dark and horrifying details of a recent health scare involving his 4 year old daughter.

The ordeal began when his daughter contracted the flu, an experience that no doubt many a parent has had before. That flu however turned very serious when his daughter developed a lesion on her brain, one that caused her to lose all of her motor skills and resulted in her being hooked up to a feeding tube at Sunrise Hospital in Winchester, Nevada.

As you might expect this was a complete nightmare for the devastated parents and now completely explains why Pietrangelo was unable to continue playing as his daughter suffered in the hospital. Thankfully though, although things looked dire, the situation would improve drastically from there.

According to comments from Pietrangelo on Saturday, the condition of his daughter's health has improved dramatically over the past few days. Things have gotten so good in fact that she is now up and about and walking after being bedridden for a period of three weeks prior to this. Even better though, doctors have informed Pietrangelo and his wife that their daughter is now expected to make a full recovery.

Unsurprisingly with the good news comes Pietrangelo's return to the team, and according to Sin Bin Vegas he is expected to be in the lineup tonight when the Golden Knights take on the New York Islanders.