With ambiguity around the availability of Cal Clutterbuck, and with their season teetering on the brink, the Islanders have a handful of contingency plans.
Clutterbuck needed to be helped off the ice with an apparent back injury at the end of Game 2 of the team’s second-round series against the Hurricanes on Sunday afternoon, the Islanders losing again and now down 2-0 in the best-of-seven contest as the scene shifts to Raleigh for an all-important Game 3 on Wednesday night.
When asked Monday if he had an update on the status of the integral winger, coach Barry Trotz gave a succinct “nope.”
If Clutterbuck can’t play, the most likely scenario would be that Michael Dal Colle draws into the lineup after he had been a healthy scratch for the previous six postseason games. The 22-year-old winger played 28 games with the Islanders this season and could add a bit of offensive punch to a team that scored just one goal — on a deflected pass — through the opening two games.
“Oh yeah, Delly is definitely an option in that situation,” Trotz said Monday. “Delly has been an option for us the first couple games, and we didn’t go there. Maybe we do [for Game 3].”
The other extra forward with the team is Ross Johnston, the 6-foot-5 pugilist who got into 17 games this season.
Trotz also didn’t rule out the possibility of someone coming straight from AHL Bridgeport, as its season ended Saturday. Following exit interviews, it’s possible a few players join the team for practice in the coming days, the most interesting possibilities being Josh Ho-Sang or Otto Koivula.
“We’ve talked about that,” Trotz said. “I would probably say there’s a good chance there will be one or two people. But we’ll discuss that. That’ll be an organizational discussion.”
The Hurricanes are dealing with a handful of impactful injuries, and they called up goalie Alex Nedeljkovic and defenseman Jake Bean from AHL Charlotte on Monday.
Starting goalie Petr Mrazek had to leave Game 2 early in the second period due to an undisclosed injury, replaced by 35-year-old journeyman Curtis McElhinney. Coach Rod Brind’Amour called Mrazek “day-to-day, so that’s actually good news.” Nedeljkovic won the award for being the best goalie in the AHL this season.
Defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk also left Game 2 with an apparent left-shoulder injury, and Brind’Amour said he is “not coming back anytime soon.” They also lost winger Saku Maenalanen, who isn’t expected back this series.
There is a chance they get talented 18-year-old winger Andrei Svechnikov back. He has been out since suffering a concussion in a fight with childhood idol Alex Ovechkin in Game 3 of the first round.
As far as playing in front of the raucous Raleigh crowd, Trotz was looking forward to the challenge.
“This time of year, a lot of times, it just becomes a blank. You hear the noise, but if you’re focused, it’s background noise,” he said. “If you have a real good focus, which I think we will, that’ll be exciting to play there.”