Cal Clutterbuck Good to Go, Trotz Says

The New York Islanders and their fans can breathe a sigh of relief.

It appears Cal Clutterbuck is OK after his run-in with Radko Gudas on Tuesday night. The fourth liner was upended near the boards as he skated towards the Washington Capitals zone late in the second period and did not return for the third.

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The Islanders did not practice on Wednesday, but Trotz said he had spoken to Clutterbuck.

“He seems pretty good to go,” Trotz said. “I don’t see any issue right now. We should be good to go.”

Cal Clutterbuck appeared in 8:17 of Tuesday’s Game 4 loss to the Capitals. Clutterbuck has been an important member fo the Islanders fourth line, which is often referred to as the team’s identity line.

“everyone is available. with cal [clutterbuck], i talked to him and he seems pretty good to go.”

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— new york islanders (@NYIslanders) August 19, 2020

Cal Clutterbuck, along with Casey Cizikas and Matt Martin, has been successful in the postseason of establishing their hard-nosed game to help wear down their opponents and generate offensive chances.

“Yesterday they weren’t a whole lot just because of the Clutter situation,” Trotz said. “When you look back at each game individually, they’ve been pretty decent for us. I’d say last night it wasn’t fair to them. They weren’t together a whole lot.”

It’s been no secret just how well the three have played alongside one another. They’d certainly like to keep it that way going forward.

“Obviously we want to be out on the ice together,” Matt Martin said. “You just ty to keep a level head about it. Hopefully he’s alright and we’ll get back out there. At the end of the day, it’s just about winning hockey games. We have to find a way to do that.

Game 5 will take place on Thursday at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. The NHL announced that the game would start at 8 p.m.