Isles Day to Day: Boychuk Skates in Vancouver

One week
after needing 90 stitches to repair a skate cut to his eyelid
, Johnny Boychuk was on the ice after Monday's Islanders practice in Vancouver. Boychuk came on after the Islanders session at Rogers Arena taking a few shots on Thomas Greiss and Semyon Varlamov.
There's no timetable for Boychuk's return to practice or games, but it was a positive step for the 36-year-old defenseman and a morale boost for his teammates.

"It's nice having him around the room" Mathew Barzal said. "After something like that, sometimes a guy might take some time off and hang out at home, but he was at the rink the next day having some laughs and a big smile on his face. That's kind of Johnny and we love having him around the room."
Noah Dobson, who is filling in for the veteran said that just having Boychuk on the road with the team would be a benefit through a Western Canada swing, including Boychuk's hometown of Edmonton.
"It's a big boost to have him on the road with us, he's such a good leader and a funny guy in the locker room," Dobson said. "He's a guy that can change the morale in the room. It's great to have him back on the ice."

Boychuk has 11 points (2G, 9A) in 64 games this season.

CIZIKAS SKATES ON LONG ISLAND:

While Boychuk made the trip out west, Casey Cizikas started skating on Long Island on Monday, according to Head Coach Barry Trotz.
Cizikas has been out for a month after suffering a leg laceration on Feb. 11 against the Philadelphia Flyers. Cizikas was initially projected to miss three-to-four weeks, but Islanders President and General Manager Lou Lamoriello said Cizikas would miss additional time during a media availability on March 4.
Cizikas has 14 points (10G, 4A) in 48 games this season, as he also missed time with a lower-body injury at the start of the season.

ISLES USING ROAD TRIP AS MENTAL RESET:

Looking to break out of an 0-3-3 stretch, the Islanders are hoping that a trip out to Western Canada can provide a mental reset and get the team back into the win column.
"It's great playing at home, but if you can get some wins on the road that's a serious morale booster," Barzal said. "It's you guys only on the road and you're a little wolfpack for the week. A big road win would really boost morale."
It's a critical road trip for the Islanders (79 points), who woke up on Monday outside of a playoff spot. The Isles are tied with the Carolina Hurricanes, who occupy the second wild card spot, in points, but the Hurricanes hold the tiebreaker with two more regulation/overtime wins.
The Isles are also two points back of the Columbus Blue Jackets (81 points) for the first wild card, but hold three games in hand on Columbus. The Isles and Blue Jackets meet on March 30 in Ohio. That seems a little far down the road, but Head Coach Barry Trotz said the Isles still have an opportunity ahead of them.
"We're in this by ourselves now," Head Coach Barry Trotz. "For all our play in the last month and a half, or two months hasn't been up to our standard, we've earned the right to be in a playoff race. What we do in the next 27 days, just bring our best. You can't make up for lost time or lost opportunity, but you can make the best of the time that you have and the opportunity that you have to do it. We have 27 days to see if we can make good on our opportunity."