Sometimes hot teams don’t really want days off. That’s not the case with the Islanders.
After wrapping up their first-round sweep of the Penguins with a 3-1 win on Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, the Isles could be looking at a week-long wait — if not longer — until their second-round series starts. With two stalwarts in forward Cal Clutterbuck and defenseman Johnny Boychuk both leaving Game 4 due to injury and not returning, a bit of a break could come in handy.
The Isles are set to face the winner of the Capitals-Hurricanes series, with the Metropolitan Division-winning Caps up 2-1 in the best-of-seven contest going into Thursday night’s Game 4 in Carolina, the first of a possible four games set for every other day. That puts Game 7 on Wednesday — meaning the earliest the second round would likely start, should that series go the distance, would be two days later, on April 26.
That would be a long time between games for the Islanders, but also a long time for Clutterbuck and Boychuk to recover. Clutterbuck was walking very slowly when he left the arena on Tuesday night — no cast or crutch, but appearing very sore. Boychuk tried to stay on the bench after blocking a shot with his left foot/leg midway through the second period, but went to the locker room, not to return.
No matter the extent of injury or the length of the break, coach Barry Trotz is going to present this next step as a challenge to the group. After a deserved day off Wednesday, they’ll get back to the rink and see how they respond.
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“We’re going to manage it right,” Trotz said. “Then we’ll get back to work and try to get in a rhythm. This group always practices very well. We’ll be ready for our next opponent. They’re not afraid of hard work, they’re not afraid of a challenge. This is part of the growth. If we have a week off, or eight or nine days, that’ll be the challenge. I’ll present it to the group and they’ll be up for it.”
As for scouting the two opponents, Trotz obviously knows the Capitals very well from having led them to a Stanley Cup victory just a year ago. So he is going to spend most of the time studying the Hurricanes, whom the Islanders haven’t played since Jan. 8, having gone 3-1-0 in their four regular-season matchups.
“If we end up playing Carolina, I’ll tell you what, there is a lot of character,” Trotz said. “They have a lot of heart, they have some highly skilled players, they might have one of the most underrated ‘D’ corps in the NHL. They’re playing as a team.”