Islanders defenseman Adam Boqvist gets a second cameo at forward: ‘Not easy’

The Islanders experimentation with Adam Boqvist at forward isnt over quite yet.

The defenseman got another shot playing up front on Monday with Hudson Fasching out with illness, taking Faschings spot on the right side of the third line.

Boqvist centered the fourth line for a game a couple weeks ago in Anaheim when Kyle MacLean was ill.

Not only that, but Boqvist put up a pair of assists as the Islanders lost 4-3 to the Blue Jackets in a shootout.

First of all it was funny because he wanted to see some clips, coach Patrick Roy said pregame.

So I love that the players care.

They want to do well, doesnt matter [where].

I think youre going in a stretch, whatever you can do to help the team.

I think any defenseman, we ask them to play forward, they would all say yes.

I think these guys all just want to try and make the playoffs.

Thats all they want.

With Matt Martin being the only extra forward, it appears the coaching staff would prefer to play Boqvist out of position, since he can also contribute on the power play.

I thought he did well, Roy said afterward.

Its not easy for a guy 10-minute practice, thats all he had.

I guess he did really well.

Monday was Boqvists first game in the lineup since he suffered a shoulder injury on March 11.

He and Alexander Romanov also came down sick in between, and though its not clear MacLean, Boqvist, Romanov and Fasching all caught the same illness, the Islanders have been dealing with an unusual amount of sickness lately.

Roy used an unrelated question on Monday to make a point about the Islanders penalty kill, saying it upsets him to see people overlook the units dramatic improvement since the new year.

It bothers me when people are saying our PK sucks.

Our PK doesnt suck, he said.

Since January 1, were like eighth in the league in penalty killing at 81 percent.

Eighty-one percent is pretty good.

So yeah, we had a tough start on PK, Ill admit that, but since January 1, our PK is top-1 in the NHL so we gotta stop saying, When you look at [season-long] statistics, the Islanders are at the bottom of the league no.

Were not at the bottom of the league.

Were in the top of the league the way weve been killing penalties..

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