Clutterbuck’s Late Shift Vital in Islanders 2-1 Win Over Rangers

There’s wins, and then there’s wins over your biggest rival. The New York Islanders put together a strong team effort to get the job done against the New York Rangers on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden.

Backed by unearthly goaltending by netminder Ilya Sorokin and a late go-ahead marker by Kyle Palmieri, the New York Islanders held on to win 2-1, their fourth win in their last five contests.

But there was a shift late in the third period, with the Islanders up a goal, that deserves some extra recognition.

With 2:12 to go in the third period, Cal Clutterbuck hit the ice. His shift lasted 1:12 as he did not leave the ice until one minute remaining in the third.

Over the length of his shift, the Rangers never got a shot on goal, even with the extra attacker following New York Rangers head coach Gerrard Gallant’s decision to pull Igor Shesterkin with 1:54 to go in the final frame.

With 1:20 to go in the third period, New York Islanders defenseman Scott Mayfield blocked an Adam Fox point shot, followed by a Brock Nelson backhand flip that hit Cal Clutterbuck just inside the Islanders blue line.

Clutterbuck reacted quickly as he possessed the puck and skated out of the Islanders zone. A quick head lift saw Adam Fox closing in fast, but a quick poke got the puck around him and into the Rangers zone. Clutterbuck was then met by Braden Schneider, who knocked the puck off his stick. Artemi Panarin then recovered the loose puck and tried to pass it back to Schneider, who had skated to open ice, still in the Ranger zone.

With the gas tank on empty, Clutterbuck found a way to deflect the pass into the air before pushing it, one against three, deeper into the Rangers zone. Then, after the Rangers got possession, Clutterbuck skated off the ice.

Clutterbuck had gained possession in his own zone with 1:19 to go in the game and did not allow the Rangers to establish clear possession until the clock read 1:06. Valuable time had come off the board, and his teammates secured the victory soon after.

After the game, I asked New York Islanders captain Anders Lee and head coach Barry Trotz about Clutterbuck’s last shift.

“Those are the shifts that, you know, you love to see. I mean, it’s an all-out effort, and he’s out by himself. A couple of guys changed behind him, and he’s down on the other end, just grinding it out,” Lee said. “Those six-on-five situations, penalty kill, you see him and Cizikas do that often, but just an effort that you know wasted twenty seconds. Against a setup like that, it’s an important time.”

For Trotz, that kind of shift by Clutterbuck is how you win hockey games.

“I just said to the guys, I mean, that’s how you win, right there. He was out of gas. He stayed in it. He battled through it, found a way to get that puck out. He found a way to keep that puck down there. And he was committed,” Trotz said. “I mean, that’s, that’s how you win. Those shifts, those shifts like that, are what you show your team. That’s how you win. That’s how you learn to win. You know, if he doesn’t, he doesn’t stay in the fight, and he doesn’t get that puck out, that’s how you lose.”

“And that’s the difference between winning and losing, is those types of shifts.”

That shift by Cal Clutterbuck was a playoff shift. Up a goal late, with the empty net on the other side, with an effort like no other to kill the clock.

NYI Hockey Now had reported previously that the Colorado Avalanche had been eying Clutterbuck. The 2022 NHL Trade Deadline is Monday, and Clutterbuck seems to be drawing more interest as that day approaches.