Islanders Daily: Pelech’s Milestone, Lehkonen Finally Cleared & More

The New York Islanders had a rather rough weekend, as they dropped both games of a back-to-back against the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning. What came out of the weekend was the fact that the New York Islanders got nothing from three of their four lines while other teams won because of their offensive depth. In the loss on Sunday, Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech recorded his 20th assist of the season, the first time he’s hit that mark in his career.

These stories and more in today’s daily link!

Entering the weekend, the New York Islanders were feeling strong about their play. Despite the point gap between them and a playoff spot, the Islanders had won seven of their last 10 games, one of the losses coming in overtime, and had been playing more to their identity. But the Boston Bruins and the Tampa Bay Lightning were an issue. (NYI Hockey Now)

New York Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech has never been known for lighting the lamp or racking up the assists. His skill set lies in shutting down the best of the best the NHL has to offer. But in the 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday, Adam Pelech reached an offensive milestone, as he hit the 20-assist mark for the first time in his seven-year NHL career. (NYI Hockey Now)

Things couldn’t be going much better for the Boston Bruins at this point. So that’s a natural time to make a hockey club as impactful as they can be with roughly a month less to go until the Stanley Cup playoffs and round out any edges while so many other things are working for the Black and Gold. (Boston Hockey Now)

Evgeni Malkin has not spoken to the media since Russian dictator Vladimir Putin invaded independent democracy Ukraine. Several years ago, fellow Russian player Alex Ovechkin started a social media campaign #TeamPutin and recently walked back his boisterous support in favor of peace. Malkin was also part of the 2017 Putin push, but the Pittsburgh Penguins center did not voice boisterous support or attach his name to its promotion. (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

Frustration boiled over in the third period at Capital One Arena, as Tom Wilson had enough and dropped the gloves to fight Brendan Smith. It came almost midway through the final period and at a rough point for the Washington Capitals, who were trailing the Carolina Hurricanes by four and would surrender another goal just seconds later. That fight, as well as a lone goal from No. 43, was all the Capitals were able to put up in a lackluster 6-1 loss to the red-hot Hurricanes. (Washington Hockey Now)

Two top Florida Panthers prospects will battle it out for a chance to go to the NCAA national championship game in two weeks. Mackie Samoskevich and the University of Michigan Wolverines will face Mike Benning and the University of Denver Pioneers at the Frozen Four in Boston. The Pioneers defeated Minnesota Duluth on Saturday to advance to the Frozen Four. Michigan took out former Panthers prospect Ty Smilanic’s Quinnipiac Bobcats with a 7-4 victory on Sunday to set up the matchup between the two remaining Florida prospects. Smilanic was shipped out to Montreal in the Ben Chiarot trade. (Florida Hockey Now)

Joshua Roy, perhaps the most underrated Montreal Canadiens prospect, has wowed fans on the ice all season in the QMJHL, but it’s his off-ice attributes that make him a tailor-made player for the rabid Montreal market. The 18-year-old possesses a level of humility and maturity that is rare to find in skilled players of that age, and his ability to channel pressure into success makes him tailor-made to be a member of the Montreal Canadiens down the line. (Montreal Hockey Now)

For Noah Cates, the 23-year-old winger who signed with the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday, the timing couldn’t be better. Cates, who had who had 24 points, including 11 goals, in 37 games for powerful Minnesota-Duluth this season, will make his NHL debut Tuesday against his hometown team, the host Minnesota Wild, at Xcel Energy Center. (Philly Hockey Now)

Hey, it’s that time again. The Golden Knights are off for three days and Owen Krepps has fallen down a rabbit hole looking at pointless hockey statistics and information. Big shoutout to HockeyReference as always for fueling his addiction. Expansion. It’s something over half of the franchises in the NHL have gone through and something that is still happening with the NHL to this day with the Seattle Kraken and the Vegas Golden Knights. (Vegas Hockey Now)

So, disregard everything I just wrote about 15 minutes ago. Artturi Lehkonen has been CLEARED by the immigration authorities and is flying BACK to Calgary to rejoin the team, team sources say. It’s finally over. I’ll assume, for now, that Lehkonen will play tomorrow. But, I guess we’ll wait to see on that. (Colorado Hockey Now)

Logan Couture suffered more than just one defeat in Edmonton last week. The San Jose Sharks lost 5-2 to the Oilers, Couture had to leave the game mid-way because of an upper-body injury, and… “Megna [took over for Jake Middleton in the escape room]. We didn’t get out.” (San Jose Hockey Now)

Spoiler alert: Today is going to be Johnny Gaudreau heavy on content. For good reason, too. The Calgary Flames winger is making a lot of noise, on and off the ice. For his impressive 10-point effort last week, the NHL rewarded Gaudreau with second star of the week honors. (Calgary Hockey Now)

Round one of two, the second comes Wednesday, on just how tough and heavy the St. Louis Blues might be compared to the Vancouver Canucks. It was a big, heavy Blues team that beat the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final three years ago and many of the pieces remain. Even their team sniper Vladimir Tarasenko is called ‘The Tank’. They’ve also added a monster or two, like 6-foot-6, 225-pound, right wing Alexei Toropchenko. (San Jose Hockey Now)