Islanders pride themselves on physical style of play, but still shaken by Brandon Carlo injury
Brandon Carlo #25 of the Boston Bruins pauses after a third period injury against the Islanders in Game Three of the Second Round of the 2021 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at the Nassau Coliseum on June 03, 2021. Credit: Getty Images/Bruce Bennett
The sight of Boston Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo, on his knees, motionless, and with a glazed look in his eyes Thursday after being checked into the boards by the Islanders’ Cal Clutterbuck in Game 3 of the playoff series between Islanders and Boston, was unsettling.
And Clutterbuck admitted Saturday it left him with a pit in his stomach.
"Obviously, you feel bad,’’ Clutterbuck said, before the teams played Game 4 of their second-round series Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum. "We don't want to see anybody hurt. I'm not going out there trying to hurt people. That's not the goal. The goal is to be effective in trying to create turnovers. And so, when that happens, obviously it's unfortunate. It gives you a bad feeling your stomach, definitely.’’
Carlo has had concussion problems in his past, including this regular season, when he missed three weeks – 10 games – because of a concussion sustained from a head-high hit from Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson on March 5. Wilson was suspended for seven games for the hit.
Carlo returned and played the rest of the season without incident, but with 13:48 remaining in the third period of the Bruins’ 2-1 Game 3 OT win, the 6-5, 227-pounder went behind the net to move a puck around the boards and was hit – cleanly – by the 5-11, 215-pound Clutterbuck. Carlo’s head hit the glass, and he fell to his knees. He tried to get up, but fell, then stayed down until play was stopped.
Carlo left the game immediately and did not return. He was not in the lineup for Game 4.
"I don't like to see that at all, so I hope he's okay,’’ Clutterbuck said. "I try and take pride in the fact that I go out there and play the game clean, and try and finish my checks the right way. And he just kind of caught the glass in a weird spot.’’
The Islanders pride themselves on being a physical team. Clutterbuck and his linemate, Matt Martin, were both in the top 10 in the league in hits in the regular season, according to quanthockey.com. Clutterbuck was sixth, with 191, and Martin was eighth, with 181. Entering Saturday, Clutterbuck, Martin and Leo Komarov were second, third and fourth in playoff hits, with 50, 46 and 45, respectively, in nine games.
Islanders coach Barry Trotz explained that there is a tangible value to teams that play a physical game.
"If you're going back for a puck, and you've been hit 30 times going back for the puck, that one time when you think you're gonna get hit, and you don't make the play that you should, or, you turn over the puck… it ends up in the back of your net,’’ Trotz said.
"(Physical play) wears you out,’’ he continued. "It wears you mentally, and some guys are mentally stronger than others. Some guys have a bigger backbone, as I would say, when it comes to those situations. And that's why I think, in the playoffs, it gets ramped up a little bit. It just does.’’
The trick is to be able to pound on the opponent in a clean way, without taking penalties. The Islanders, for the most part, have been able to do that. Despite all the hitting they do, their average of 6.4 penalty minutes per postseason game, entering Saturday, was tied with the Minnesota Wild for second-fewest among the 16 teams that made the playoffs.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
