The islanders' experiment with Adam Bokvist in the forward is not over.
The defensive man got another shot Monday as Hudson fascized sickly and took the fascating spot on the right side of the third road.
Bokvist centered the fourth line for a game in Anaheim a few weeks ago when Kyle MacLean was ill.
Not only that, but Bokvist gave a pair of assists as the islanders lost 4-3 to their blue jackets in the shootout.
“First of all, he wanted to see some clips, so it was fun,” coach Patrick Roy said before the game. “That's why I love how players care. They want to do well, it's not a problem. [where]. I think you're moving forward all at once, whatever you can do to help your team.
“Every defender, we ask them to move on, they all say yes. These guys all want to try the playoffs. That's all they want.”
With Matt Martin being the only forward, the coaching staff seems to prefer to play Bokvist from position as they can also contribute to power plays.
“I thought he did well,” Roy said afterwards. “It's not easy for a guy. Ten minutes of practice, that's all he had. I think he really did well.”
Monday was Boqvist's first game in the lineup since suffering a shoulder injury on March 11th.
He and Alexander Romanov also fell ill during that time, but it is not clear that MacLean, Bokvist, Romanov and Fassing all captured the same disease, but the islanders have recently dealt with an extraordinary amount of illness.
Roy used an unrelated question on Monday to insist on the islanders' penalty kills and said he was confused after seeing him overlook the dramatic improvements in the unit since the new year.
“When people say our PKs suck, it bothers me. Our PKs don't smoke,” he said. “Since January 1st, we seem to be the eighth in the league with penalty killings at 81%. 80% is pretty good.”
“Yeah, we got off to a tough start with penalty kicks, I'll admit that, but since January 1st, our penalty kicks are the top one in the NHL. [season-long] Statistics, the islanders are at the bottom of the league” – No. We're not at the bottom of the league. We are at the top of the league in ways that have killed penalties. ”
