NHL Buzz: Sorokin to make season debut for Islanders after back surgery

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New York Islanders

Ilya Sorokin will make his season debut when he starts for the Islanders against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena on Monday (9 p.m. ET; MSGSN, ALT, TVAS).

The 29-year-old goalie had back surgery after he was injured during offseason workouts. He has not played since Game 3 of the Eastern Conference First Round on April 25, when he was pulled after allowing three goals on 14 shots in a 3-2 loss to the Carolina Hurricanes. New York lost the best-of-7 series in five games.

"I just want him to be him," Islanders coach Patrick Roy said. "I mean, it's his first game back, so I want him to feel comfortable out there, and I want us to play really well like we did with (Semyon Varlamov) in front of the net. I want us to play well defensively.

"I would leave it to [goaltending coach Piero Greco] to tell me how he feels, but Piero thinks he's ready to play. So in my mind, he's ready to do those things."

Sorokin begins the first season of an eight-year contract. He was 25-19-12 with an NHL career-high 3.01 goals-against average and career-low .909 save percentage in 56 games (55 starts) last season.

"I think every time he's in net, you just have confidence," forward Bo Horvat said. "He's always there to make that big save, and when you have a goaltender like that, especially our tandem, when you have two guys back there that you trust and can make those big saves for us, it makes the game a lot easier, for sure, so looking forward to getting him back in tonight."

Varlamov started the first two games for the Islanders (0-1-1), giving up seven goals on 52 shots. -- Ryan Boulding

Florida Panthers

Matthew Tkachuk will be out about one week with an illness.

The 26-year-old forward missed his second straight game when the Panthers faced the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on Monday. The Panthers visit the Columbus Blue Jackets and return home for games against Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, the Vegas Golden Knights on Saturday and the Minnesota Wild the following Tuesday.

"Matthew's going to be out a week," Florida coach Paul Maurice said. "I think we're shooting for Minnesota at home a week from tomorrow."

The Panthers used 11 forwards and seven defensemen against the Bruins.

Tkachuk has two assists in two games after scoring 26 goals with a team-leading 62 assists in 80 games for the Stanley Cup champions last season.

Center Aleksander Barkov is out 2-3 weeks with a lower-body injury. The Panthers captain left a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Thursday late in the third period after sliding into the boards. -- Joe Pohoryles

San Jose Sharks

Macklin Celebrini hasn't been ruled out for when the Sharks visit the Winnipeg Jets on Friday.

The forward was placed on injured reserve Saturday, retroactive to Oct. 10, with a lower-body injury and is eligible to return Friday.

"It's a week-to-week thing, and he's working extremely hard to get back," coach Ryan Warsofsky said. "He's putting a lot of work into it. We'll just kind of take it day by day. We have a really good plan from our training staff and our sports performance staff, what we want to do."

Celebrini, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, will not travel with the Sharks for games at the Dallas Stars on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; Victory+, NBCSCA) and the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday.

"He's in the rehab process," Warsofsky said. "He hasn't gone on the ice yet. I haven't checked in with our training staff today yet, so we'll see.

"I'm sure he's frustrated, and it's a learning moment for him in his career. He's going to have a long career, and he's going to have some injuries and things along the way that will pop up. I know he's working extremely hard to get back as quickly as he can. He's just taking it day by day, and it's just part of the game of hockey." -- Max Miller

St. Louis Blues

Brandon Saad will make his season debut for the Blues against the Minnesota Wild at Enterprise Center on Tuesday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN).

The 31-year-old forward was activated Monday. He away to be with his wife, Alyssa, who gave birth to the couple's third child, a daughter they named Lyra.

"I feel good; I'm excited," Saad said. "Obviously missed the trip and need to get up to game speed.

"I felt good in camp, was skating here, working out while they were gone. You miss a couple days of that with the delivery, but otherwise I feel ready to go."

Alexandre Texier was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. The forward had an assist in 13:03 of ice time in a 3-2 season-opening win at the Seattle Kraken on Oct. 8.

"He'll be out for tomorrow night and we can reevaluate him from there," Blues coach Drew Bannister said. "I don't think he's going to be that far off. He's probably day to day, but he will be out [Tuesday]."

Oskar Sundqvist (torn right ACL) has been cleared for contact, but the forward is likely a week or so away from making his season debut following surgery and rehabilitation.

"I just think he's going through the protocol right now," Bannister said. "It's definitely probably not week to week, more day to day but I think it's still a little way's away. With playing every second day, it's hard to get him in a lot of contact with our group. Might be a little longer than five, six, seven days, which probably puts him into later on next week at home. We'll see how it goes over the next few days, at least." -- Lou Korac

Toronto Maple Leafs

John Tavares and Joseph Woll each remained absent from Maple Leafs practice but are making progress in their recoveries from an illness and a lower-body injury respectively.

"(Tavares) is better but still not there yet to practice today," coach Craig Berube said. "(Woll) is better, he went on the ice today (by himself) for a while and so that's a good sign. He's improving and we will see tomorrow where he is at, if he can come out with us for a bit and get some shots. I'm not sure yet, we will see tomorrow."

Tavares, a forward, missed a 4-2 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday. Woll, a goalie, has missed each of Toronto's first three games.

Timothy Liljegren could make his season debut when the Maple Leafs face the Los Angeles Kings at Scotiabank Arena on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; TVAS, SN, BSW). The defenseman has been a healthy scratch.

"I think he's been practicing well," Berube said. "I talked to him a little bit ago, I think his practices are getting better, more intensity, doing things quicker. There's a chance he can play on Wednesday."

Liljegren skated on a pair with Simon Benoit at practice, replacing Conor Timmins.

"Not fun not playing but I've been trying to come in and work as hard as I can to get back in the lineup," Liljegren said. "I talked to (Berube) and it's more like playing a little easier simple game. I think that's it, just play hard and simple." -- Dave McCarthy

Washington Capitals

Defenseman Matt Roy won't play for the Capitals against the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday (7 p.m. ET; SCRIPPS, MNMT) and is expected to be out beyond that because of a lower-body injury.

"I don't think it's going to be crazy long, but he's going to miss a decent amount of time," Capitals coach Spencer Carbery said Monday.

Roy, who signed a six-year, $34.5 million contract with Washington on July 1, was injured in the second period of a 5-3 loss to the New Jersey Devils on Saturday.

Carbery said Dylan McIlrath, who shoots right-handed like Roy, will likely take his place, but it will also be on the Capitals other right-hand defensemen, John Carlson and Trevor van Riemsdyk to pick up some of the slack.

The Capitals hoped that Roy could help lessen the workload for Carlson after the 34-year-old led the NHL in averaging 25:54 in ice time last season.

"Definitely not ideal to lose him in the first game for the game itself and for the foreseeable future," Carbery said. "But that's why we have eight D and, hopefully, an opportunity for some guys to step up not only coming into the lineup but [van Riemsdyk] to play a few more minutes. Unfortunately, it's going to probably going to put a little bit more stress on John, but we'll have to manage it." -- Tom Gulitti

Minnesota Wild

Joel Eriksson Ek did not travel with the Wild for their 2-1 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday because of a broken nose.

The forward is expected to be available when Minnesota visits the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday. He left a 5-4 shootout loss to the Seattle Kraken on Saturday following an elbow by defenseman Adam Larsson at 7:07 of the second period.

The Wild reassigned Travis Boyd to Iowa of the American Hockey League. The forward was recalled on an emergency basis Sunday.

Defenseman Jared Spurgeon also did not play against the Jets. Minnesota's captain is day to day with a lower-body injury.

Seattle Kraken

Vince Dunn missed a 2-0 loss at the Dallas Stars on Sunday because of an upper-body injury.

The defenseman, who is day to day, was injured in a 5-4 shootout win at the Minnesota Wild on Saturday.

"I think the strength of the group is that it is deep," Seattle coach Dan Bylsma said before the game. "I think the strength through the first two games has been, with the exception of [Brandon Montour Saturday] night -- 25 minutes and a lot of that's overtime and getting a few extra minutes in overtime -- we've really had consistent minutes throughout the pairings. That'll really be the same tonight. It's next man up and next man to do the job."

Ryker Evans moved up to the top pair with Adam Larsson. Josh Mahura was on the third pair with Will Borgen.

"I liked Ryker's game for the last exhibition game and first game against St. Louis," Bylsma said. "Skating really well, moving the puck really well, defending really aggressively and physical. He knows 100 percent what's expected from him on the ice and how we want to play, and executing together as a group."

Dallas Stars

Mathew Dumba did not play for the Stars against the Kraken.

The defenseman sustained a lower-body injury and missed the second and third periods of a 3-0 win against the New York Islanders on Saturday.

Stars coach Peter DeBoer said Dumba would be evaluated Monday. -- Taylor Baird

Pittsburgh Penguins

Alex Nedeljkovic participated in a full practice Sunday for the first time since sustaining a lower-body injury in a preseason game Sept. 30.

The goalie will not be available against the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Monday (7:30 p.m. ET; RDS, Prime, SN-PIT). Nedeljkovic first joined the Penguins for a morning skate Saturday before a 4-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

"He's obviously making real progress," coach Mike Sullivan said.

Nedeljkovic, the expected backup when healthy, shared a net with 22-year-old prospect Joel Blomqvist. He signed a two-year, $5 million contract ($2.5 million average annual value) to stay in Pittsburgh on June 20 after starting 12 of the final 13 games last season.

"It's always nice to stick around and have some consistency with where you're at," Nedeljkovic said Sept. 20, two days after training camp opened. "Not having to go to an entirely different locker room, where you only know 2-3 guys at best maybe, to stay here and have to meet only a few new faces, it makes it easier to feel comfortable in the room."

Blomqvist has started two of the Penguins' first three games this season. He made 29 saves in each, a 6-3 win in his NHL debut at the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday and the loss to Toronto.

Goalie Tristan Jarry will start Monday for the first time since making 34 saves in a 6-0 season-opening loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday. -- Wes Crosby