Islanders' Cal Clutterbuck misses Saturday's game vs. Penguins with undisclosed injury
Cal Clutterbuck of the Islanders skates against the Boston Bruins at Nassau Coliseum on Jan. 18. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Cal Clutterbuck was out of Saturday’s lineup after suffering an undisclosed injury Thursday against the Bruins.
Coach Barry Trotz said Clutterbuck is day-to-day and underlined his importance to the Islanders’ identity line.
"I think he’s really a security blanket for Casey [Cizikas] and Marty [Matt Martin]," Trotz said of his fourth-liner. "They like to get real physical. It’s not that Cal doesn’t like to get physical, but I think he just complements that line really well. When they’re really getting on people, I think he’s the guy who’s defensively conscious for them and it complements him because he’s physical, he’s got a good hockey IQ and gets under people’s skin, which, when you get that line doing their sort of role within that line, they’re quite effective. He’s a very important player for us."
Clutterbuck missed 30 games last season after getting slashed with a skate. The Islanders went 12-12-6 in that stretch.
"We miss him when he’s not in," Martin said. "I think it was Leo [Komarov] who was playing with us for a while last year and he plays a similar game, so it’s kind of next man up mentality. Injuries are part of the sport and we find a way to win with whoever is in the lineup."
Schneider out
Cory Schneider remained on the non-roster IR after his 14-year-old nephew was killed in a house fire. The family is soliciting donations via GoFundMe.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
