Jesper's Court | FEATURE

"Ew. That was gross."
"It was a great move he made there. It was against two or three guys."
"Those are the kinds of goals you dream of, where you can go through defensemen and put it in the back of the net."
Those comments were made by captain Nico Hischier, forward Pavel Zacha and head coach Lindy Ruff, respectfully, in reference to the goal that Jesper Boqvist scored at Vegas Monday night.
On the play, Boqvist picked off a puck in the neutral zone, turned it up ice, cut inside of Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, split two defensemen and then snap off a quick shot for what would eventually be the game-winning goal in a 3-2 victory at T-Mobile Arena.
"I won the puck in the neutral zone and tried to get a lane to shoot it," Boqvist, 23, said of his goal. "I saw the D-man turn his skates and I thought I had the inside on him. I took the inside and luckily it went in."

The win in Vegas capped a 3-1-1 record for the Devils on their season-long five-game road trip. Part of that success was the play of Boqvist, who notched three goals and four points on the road swing.
"It was a pretty good trip," the Swede said. "I got some goals and it's always fun when you win a lot of games, too. That's most important."
The 2021-22 campaign has been a remarkable progression for Boqvist. He began the year in Utica of the American Hockey League, posting eight points (2G-6A) in seven games before being recalled to New Jersey.
But after initially playing five games or the Devils, Boqvist found himself in and out of the lineup for the next three months. He appeared in 10 games from Nov. 20 to Jan. 25 while missing 16 contests (six injury; 10 healthy scratch).
After being a healthy scratch for four straight games (Jan. 19-25), something clicked for Boqvist. He was reinserted into the lineup at the center position and those first seven games back saw him score four goals and six points while posting 15 shots.
Ruff pointed to Boqvist's move to center - he had played primarily as a winger prior - as the period when the team started to trust in his play.
"When we moved him to the middle and kept him there on a full-time basis," Ruff said. "He's become our third-line centerman. That's when he started to push his way through."
Boqvist's offensive production - nine goals and 16 points since Jan. 27 - has been partly from finishing his chances - "That's another area he's improved, his shot and accuracy," Ruff said - but also, his skating has allowed him to create more opportunities for himself to finish.
"He's skating really well. (When) he gets the puck he's separating himself from people, his speed has been good," Ruff said. "I think he's carrying momentum into plays. His timing on breakouts has been good. When he picks up pucks, guys aren't tracking him down or catching him from behind. He's hitting the blue line with a lot of speed and has been able to back the defense off."
Boqvist, a second-round pick (36th overall) in 2017, noted that he hasn't gotten faster. But that his reads and reactions are the biggest reason that his skating this season looks so much better than previous years.
"I'm skating in the right spots now. I'm not faster or anything. I'm probably in better areas," he said. "I've been watching a lot of clips too on how to get the puck with speed or find the puck with speed."

Boqvist has always had the talent. Now it seems like he's starting to put it all together, and in different ways. He scored with a single-handed effort at Vegas, a perfect snipe from the slot at Seattle and finding a rebound while crashing the net at Arizona.
"I love the improvement he makes every year," said forward Pavel Zacha, who has been a linemate of Boqvist's at times this season. "Every year he gets way better. Right now, he's not scared to take it to the net. Against a team like Vegas, making those moves and scoring a big goal for us. It's great to see a player like that performing and playing really good overall."
Boqvist has had a lot of ups and downs in his three-year pro career. But the second half of this season has seen his game on a consistent upward trajectory.
"I feel like I'm coming into more of myself every day," he said. "Confidence-wise, I feel like I belong, and I can do stuff. That's the biggest part."