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PHT Morning Skate: How Avs turned it around; How Oilers fell apart

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Brent Burns and Logan Couture each scored as the Sharks defeated the Golden Knights 2-1 in overtime for their sixth straight victory.

Welcome to the PHT Morning Skate, a collection of links from around the hockey world. Have a link you want to submit? Email us at phtblog@nbcsports.com.

• It sounds like Marc-Andre Fleury will be joining his teammates in Colorado. That’s good news considering he suffered an injury just a few days ago. They can’t afford to lose him right before the start of the playoffs. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)

• The Colorado Avalanche were awful last year, but thanks to Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, Semyon Varlamov and a few others, they’ve managed to claw their way back to respectability. (Fan Rag Sports)

• Brayden Schenn won’t be facing supplemental discipline for the hit he delivered on David Krejci Wednesday night. (NBC Sports Boston)

• No one expected the Edmonton Oilers to fall off the face of the earth one year after making the second round of the playoffs, but that’s exactly what happened. TSN’s Frank Seravalli examines why that happened to them. (TSN.ca)

• Aleksander Barkov has emerged as one of the best centers in the NHL this season. His ability to play a quality two-way game has them in the playoff conversation. (The Hockey News)

• The “Melnyk Out” billboards in Ottawa have have sparked a national conversation about the way Eugene Melnyk is affecting the Senators fan base in a negative way. (The Sports Daily)

• British hockey player Liam Kirk has developed into a legitimate prospect for this summer’s NHL Entry Draft. Instead of moving to a more traditional hockey country when he was younger, Kirk decided to stay in Great Britain. (Elite Prospects)

• Here’s an interesting list of players that broke the color barrier for each NHL team. (Grand Stand Central)

• The 2018 Isobel Cup will be handed out to the Buffalo Beauts or the Metropolitan Riveters. Here’s a full preview of the championship game. (The Ice Garden)

• Blues forward Jaden Schwartz has developed into one of the most underrated stars in the league. (Bleedin Blue)

• Only one defenseman has won the Lady Byng Trophy since 1954. Could Roman Josi be the next one? (On the Forecheck)

• The fact that so many potential candidates pulled themselves out of the running for the Carolina GM job probably isn’t a good sign. New owner Thomas Dundon might have to reexamine his structure. (Scotty Wazz)

• Clayton Keller talks about his path to the NHL, how he prepared for his first full season and more in a Q&A with the Sporting News. (Sporting News)

• Coverage of the Vancouver Canucks seems to have taken a negative turn over the last couple of years, but is that surprising given their recent results? (Canucks Army)

• Up top, check out the highlights from last night’s game between the Golden Knights and Sharks.

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Joey Alfieri is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @joeyalfieri.