Islanders' Marc Gatcomb having more than a trivial impact on fourth line
Marc Gatcomb of the New York Islanders scores against Charlie Lindgren of the Washington Capitals at UBS Arena on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Whatever Marc Gatcomb does in the course of his NHL career, and there are signs the 25-year-old undrafted free agent from Woburn, Massachusetts, can positively impact a lineup, he will always be the answer to this question: Which fourth-liner doubled Alex Ovechkin’s goal output the day The Great 8 scored his 895th to surpass Wayne Gretzky for the NHL’s all-time record?
Trivial pursuits aside, the Islanders have six games remaining and training camp in September to assess what they’ve seen in the first 33 games of Gatcomb’s NHL career.
The Islanders will enter Tuesday night’s game against the Predators at Bridgestone Arena — general manager Barry Trotz’s squad has been the most disappointing NHL team this season — seven points behind the streaking Canadiens for the Eastern Conference’s second wild-card spot and with nothing but a mathematical chance of qualifying for the postseason.
While the Canadiens have all but locked up the last playoff spot with a five-game winning streak, Gatcomb scored a career-high two goals in the Islanders’ 4-1 win over Ovechkin’s Capitals on Sunday at UBS Arena. It gave the 6-2, 195-pound Gatcomb, who skates with a fair amount of speed and plays with a fair amount of grit, eight goals (with one assist) as he plays on Kyle MacLean’s fourth line with, for now, Matt Martin.
That would put Gatcomb on a 20-goal pace projected over an 82-game season. If he could even consistently get to 15 goals a season while proving to be a physical forechecker, a decent defender and a reliable penalty-killer — according to NaturalStatTrick.com, Gatcomb has yet to log a second playing shorthanded — the Islanders might have a worthy successor to Cal Clutterbuck as the fourth-line right wing. (Points should not be deducted because Gatcomb seems a little too soft-spoken to ever be the All-Star chirper Clutterbuck was in his impactful 17-season career.)
So it’s obviously a long way from here to Clutterbuck. But Gatcomb did take an opportune moment in a historic game to positively show what he can do by skating hard to the crease.
“It’s definitely awesome,” said Gatcomb, who played four seasons for UConn.
“Everyone dreams of playing in the NHL. But being part of a moment like this and being able to contribute to a win for our team, especially two huge, important points, that’s cool. It’s definitely something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.
“My parents were here as well. It’s cool to have them here.”
After so many seasons of the Islanders’ team identity being set with Casey Cizikas centering Clutterbuck and Martin, a lack of an impactful fourth line was one of the things that hurt the Islanders this season.
When Gatcomb and MacLean, who had a career-high two assists against the Capitals, can play this way, it allows coach Patrick Roy greater lineup flexibility.
“He sees the net and has a nose for it,” Anders Lee said. “They bring a lot of energy to this team. The way that [Gatcomb] has continued to bring it since he’s gotten that opportunity says a lot about his ability to go seize this.”
And to become more than an answer to a trivia question.
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.
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