Cal Clutterbuck, Scott Mayfield remain out of Islanders' lineup for final preseason game, a win over Rangers
Cal Clutterbuck #15 of the Islanders skates during the team's first day of training camp at Northwell Health Ice Center in East Meadow on Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. Credit: James Escher
That gritty right wing Cal Clutterbuck and defenseman Scott Mayfield were absent for Saturday night’s 3-1 win over the rival Rangers at UBS Arena in the preseason finale could be seen as a troubling sign, especially with the rest of the lineup a strong predictor of Thursday’s regular-season opener.
Or, the Islanders are just showing extreme caution with the two regulars, particularly with Clutterbuck who had season-ending shoulder surgery in the spring. The Islanders have not specified what is keeping either off the ice.
Clutterbuck played in just the preseason opener, Mayfield dressed for two preseason games, the last being this past Sunday, and neither has been skating on their own or with the team.
But coach Lane Lambert said he has not grown more concerned about their status for Thursday’s opener against the Florida Panthers at UBS Arena.
“No, I don’t think so,” Lambert said. “It’s still status quo.”
Casey Cizikas, who had missed most of the practice time since Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime win in Philadelphia, did return to the lineup. Oliver Wahlstrom, who had missed recent practices, was not in the lineup but did skate with the extras on Saturday.
Otherwise, Saturday’s lineup could well be the one that faces the Panthers.
Brock Nelson centered Anders Lee and Anthony Beauvillier. Mathew Barzal was in between Zach Parise and Kyle Palmieri. Jean-Gabriel Pageau’s line included Kieffer Bellows and Josh Bailey and Cizikas centered Matt Martin and Ross Johnson.
Defensively, Adam Pelech was paired with Ryan Pulock, Noah Dobson and Alexander Romanov remained together and Robin Salo was paired with Sebastian Aho instead of Mayfield. That’s perhaps a hint that Aho is in line to be the seventh defenseman provided Mayfield is healthy. Aho had a strong game, logging 12:17 and setting up Bellows’ opening goal with a diving touch pass from the right circle.
Ilya Sorokin was sharp in net, making 28 saves.
“I thought it was a pretty hard-fought game,” Lambert said. “It was nice to see our guys battle and I thought we defended hard.”
“I think we’ve improved every game,” Pulock said. “We’re still going to be working on things. It’s not perfected but I think it’s in a good spot heading into the season. We’re going to keep building this week and be ready for Thursday.”
The Islanders went 4-2-0 in the preseason, winning their last four games.
Barzal said the takeaway from Lambert’s first training camp as Islanders coach was, “the compete level is really high.”
“We’ve all been talking about just how miserable last season was, losing like that,” Barzal added of last season’s playoff miss. “We don’t want to repeat that.”
Barzal gave the Islanders a 2-0 lead in the first period, skating out from the corner and firing a rising wrist shot from the left circle. Lambert is trying to push the Islanders – held to 16 shots on Saturday – to be more aggressive in their shooting habits.
“What I’m most happy about on that play was he shot the puck,” Lambert said.
Parise’s third-period power-play goal made it 3-0.
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
