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Cal Clutterbuck, Johnny Boychuk could benefit from Islanders’ downtime

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.