The hit that injured Brandon Carlo was not the product of a malicious act from Cal Clutterbuck.
Still, the New York Islanders winger feels bad about what happened.
In Game 3 of the Boston Bruins’ series against the New York Islanders, Carlo played a puck at the end boards. Clutterbuck came in and laid a clean hit that ended up with Carlo hitting his head on the glass. The defenseman, who has a concussion history, went tumbling to the ice and struggled to get up.
Fortunately, he’s only considered day-to-day and has remained around the team. He will miss Game 4 on Saturday, however.
Clutterbuck ahead of Game 4 had the opportunity to share his reaction to the play.
“Obviously, you feel bad,” Clutterbuck told reporters Saturday morning. “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. …
“I don’t like to see that at all, so I hope he’s OK,” Clutterbuck added. “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.”
Jarred Tinordi will replace Carlo in the Bruins lineup.
Puck drop for Bruins-Islanders Game 4 is set for 7:15 p.m. ET on NBC. NESN will carry an hour of pregame and postgame coverage, and we’ll have intermission reports on NESN.com.
