For all the words spilled over what the Islanders should do with Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, that is — in theory — the easy part of this process.

If this final game before the trade deadline doubled as the final game in Islanders colors for Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, then it was a good one.

All eyes are rightly on Brock Nelson and Kyle Palmieri, but those are not the only two players teams will be checking in on for the remainder of this week.

Anthony Duclair, who missed time earlier this year with a suspected groin injury, was made a healthy scratch as the Islanders were blown out.

The record says it, the standings say it and the Islanders’ play on the ice Monday shouted it to the pinwheel ceiling at the Garden: Sell, sell, sell.

Brock Nelson has a lot of reasons to be feeling sentimental right about now.

Sorokin, who’d stopped the puck off Jonathan Marchessault’s shot, got credit for his first career goal.

With the NHL waiting to see if Lou Lamoriello will fold and become a seller, his potential Islanders trade chips offered a reminder of their values.

Mike Reilly’s recovery from heart surgery has taken the next step forward.

The Islanders have given this core every chance, and then some.

Noah Dobson never has missed an extended period of time with injury before this, but at least he had plenty of teammates to lean on for advice.

The Rorschach test that is Islanders hockey offered on Thursday night the same sort of picture it’s been giving ahead of the trade deadline.

It was more than a little eye-catching to see Patrick Roy, one of the NHL's greatest goalies, standing in the crease with Ilya Sorokin giving some tips.

Barring any last-minute setbacks, Noah Dobson looks ready to come off long-term injured reserve and into the Islanders lineup against the Bruins.

It’s never a good thing when the head coach has to stop practice and lay into the team.

Brennan Othmann played his first game of the season with the Rangers as the Blueshirts remained without Chris Kreider for a second straight match.

Jonny Brodzinski notched two goals and an assist in leading the Rangers to a 5-1 stomping over the Islanders on Tuesday night at UBS Arena.

Simon Homstrom's s two-way game has always been solid, but it’s worth noting that has grown as well. So much so that there are implications beyond the Islanders. 

The 4 Nations Face-Off, it was not, at UBS Arena on Sunday night. Instead, it was a regular — well maybe not-so-regular — old Islanders defeat that felt downright quaint after what we saw the last two weeks.

After Max Tsyplakov’s agent in Russia, Alexander Chernykh, told Sport Express he was working on an extension with the Islanders last week, Tsyplakov put the brakes on things for the time being.