Islanders Daily: Sorokin’s Growth, 10 Games For Barzal Line, & 100 Points for McDavid

After a 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday, the Islanders host Columbus Thursday night, the first of a back-to-back. The Barzal line has now played 10 games together and they are still a work in progress. Despite the skill set being the same between New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin and New York Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin, Sorokin is going through what Shesterkin went through last season regarding his development.

Oh and (shocker), Connor McDavid reached 100 points again.

These stories and more in today’s daily links!

It has now been 10 games for the threesome of Zach Parise, Mathew Barzal, and Oliver Wahlstrom. At times, the newest New York Islanders trio has been dangerous but has produced just three goals in 10 games. The attention has been on the duo of Mathew Barzal and Oliver Wahlstrom, yet Zach Parise has scored two of the three goals. (NYI Hockey Now)

New York Islanders netminder Ilya Sorokin and Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin possess the same skills and are both going to be dominating the NHL landscape for a long time. The struggles Shesterkin went through last season to get to where he is this season is the same struggles Sorokin went through earlier this season. (NYI Hockey Now)

The Boston Bruins were looking to work some new faces into the lineup this week anyway, but a disappointingly porous defensive effort on Tuesday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs probably hastened that a bit. Head coach Bruce Cassidy will be making lineup changes. (Boston Hockey Now)

Perhaps it was inevitable that winger Rickard Rakell would be traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He revealed Wednesday that he has a dog who already had a name when adopted – Heinz, named after the stadium where the Pittsburgh Steelers play. Now, he gets to play alongside one of his idols. (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

Back when Jaromir Jagr played for the Florida Panthers, Roberto Luongo used to joke there was a different milestone celebrated every night. It only felt that way. And it certainly feels that way now. The Panthers have 16 games remaining in their regular season and it does seem a different personal milestone is celebrated each night. (Florida Hockey Now)

It’s easy to say the Philadelphia Flyers’ disaster of a season — they were eliminated from the playoffs Tuesday with 15 games remaining — was caused by injuries. But the fact is, this was a flawed team even before top-pairing defenseman Ryan Ellis and first-line center Sean Couturier went down with season-ending injuries, and second-line center Kevin Hayes missed most of the year with a groin issue. It’s time to blow this team up. (Philly Hockey Now)

The Washington Capitals saw encouraging news at Capital One Arena on Tuesday, as forward Carl Hagelin was out and about and appeared to be in good spirits at a Washington Wizards game. Hagelin attended the game with teammates Tom Wilson, who turned 28 on Tuesday, and Trevor van Riemsdyk, who is currently recovering from an upper-body injury. (Washington Hockey Now)

The wait is over for Montreal Canadiens fans, as Jordan Harris is now officially a member of the Montreal Canadiens and will be playing his first games for the club very shortly. Harris has been a hot topic of conversation for Montreal Canadiens fans for the last year, as the Canadiens’ 2018 3rd round pick decided to return to college to play in his senior year at Northeastern University. Montreal Hockey Now sat down with Jim Madigan, Director of Athletics at Northeastern University and former head coach of the Huskies, and Jerry Keefe, the current head coach of the Huskies. (Montreal Hockey Now)

The Vegas Golden Knights defeated the Seattle Kraken 3-0 Wednesday night with Logan Thompson posting his first-career NHL shutout, Shea Theodore scoring out of the box, Michael Amadio scoring, and Jonathan Marchessault adding an empty-netter. Here are the takeaways from the shutout win. (Vegas Hockey Now)

Nathan MacKinnon was skating and shooting pucks today at the Avalanche practice facility this morning. I didn’t witness it myself, but a couple of eyewitnesses tell me there didn’t seem to be too much bothering him. In fact, one eyewitness tells me No. 29 was shooting pucks “with full force.”  (Colorado Hockey Now)

The San Jose Sharks played their last game at Gila River Arena tonight. Scott Reedy got the Sharks off on the right foot with a power-play goal, Brent Burns added another, but San Jose lost to lowly Arizona 5-2. Also, Arizona forward Clayton Keller had to be stretchered off the ice after a nasty fall into the end boards. (San Jose Hockey Now)

On Wednesday, the Vancouver Canucks faced off against the St. Louis Blues, as Vancouver’s playoff hopes are still up in the air as the season winds down. But a loss will not help their cause, especially a regulation one, as they fell to the Blues 4-3. The last goal came with less than five minutes to play in the third period. (Vancouver Hockey Now)

For the fifth time in the NHL career, Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid reached the 100-point mark. McDavid had a goal and an assist in the 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings, along with the insurance mark in the shootout. (NHL)