There’s a reason why Clutterbuck wears an “A” for the Islanders.
ELMONT, NY -- There's so much outside noise surrounding the future of New York Islanders forward Cal Clutterbuck.
The 36-year-old is a pending unrestricted free agent, but if you think Clutterbuck is focused on anything but the next shift, then you don't know what kind of competitor he is.
On the ice, Clutterbuck has had a strong season, on pace to play in all 82 games for the first time in his career, as well as providing strong, consistent play especially down the stretch here.
While his play is ultimately what's kept him in the Islanders lineup, Tuesday night against the New York Rangers was a perfect example of why Clutterbuck is so valued by the franchise.
The Islanders, fighting for their playoff lives, got off to a fiery start, jumping up 3-0 in the first period.
But things unraveled quickly in the second period, with the Rangers coming through twice on three power plays while also dominating the Islanders at 5-on-5.
The third brought no relief, as the Islanders struggled to rebound, with turnovers, failed clears, miscommunication -- you name it -- it was happening in the third period.
With 11:09 to play in the third period, there was a collision in the neutral zone between Islanders defenseman Adam Pelech and New York Rangers forward Mike Zibanejad, who left the game and did not return to the ice with what appeared to be an upper-body injury.
It was a play that had Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette furious, while Islanders head coach Patrick Roy believed there was zero intent there.
While broadcasts took a T.V. timeout with Zibanejad struggling to get to his feet with the trainer on the ice, all the Islanders huddled around the bench.
It seemed like a rather strong decision for Roy to call his troops together.
At that point in the third period, the Islanders had been outshot 11-1, turning the puck over four times (per the stat sheet),
It turns out Roy wasn't the one behind this.
Clutterbuck was.
"We talked about [cleaning things up] in the second intermission. I still felt like we could have done a better job in the third period," Clutterbuck said. "So, we started to do that. Against a good offensive team, when they are trying to press and they smell blood, it can be difficult. But it's about bearing down and getting pucks over your blue line and in their blue line.
“I just wanted to calm the minds down.”
The Islanders were dominated in the final frame, outshot 13-4, allowing 12 scoring chances, six of which were considered high-danger chances, per NaturalStatrick.com.
"We spent probably too much time in our zone, honestly, but we came out on top," Clutterbuck said. "I'm sure we'll have a discussion tomorrow about why that was and how we go about fixing that so that when we're in the moment, and things start to unravel, it doesn't happen that way, and we know how to counteract.”
Teammates Anders Lee and Bo Horvat shared their thoughts on the Clutterbuck meeting.
"It's a great, great call by Clutter just to bring the guys in, say a few words, and get us to all be on the same page," Lee said. "It was great. It's exactly what we needed. And I think we responded well after that.
"Roy said it in between periods that we just gotta go play a little better. But it was great for Clutter to do that mid-game. He's been around. He's seen this game for a long time, knows when to say things, how to say things, and there's a great moment for it."
Named an alternate captain in 2014-15, a year after being acquired by the Islanders for Nino Neiddereiter, Clutterbuck's words hold tremendous weight in the room and on the ice.
"The message was just to get back to the way we know how to play, which is keeping it simple, not panicking, talking, and just doing little things that are gonna help us win, and we went out there and did that," Horvat said.
Roy loved what Clutterbuck did.
"I love the leadership of Clutter, gathering all the guys around us and making sure that we simplified our game and we’re making sure that we get back out of the zone," Roy said. "They were doing a good job blocking the walls and sealing the walls. For some reason, we had a bit more time getting the puck out of the zone.
"Sometimes it's even better when it comes from the players themselves. We had a bit of trouble to get the puck out of our own, and he just made it clear to our guys, let's stay to the agenda and make sure that we do a better job getting those puck out. And that's what we did at the end. We were better on those clears and getting it out."