The two-inch scratch on Johnny Boychuk's neck was still puffy and reddish pink on Friday morning, the result of Mitch Marner's skate catching him in the neck at the end of the second period.
The scratch, still just 14 hours fresh, showed just how close Boychuk had come to a very scary situation. As Barry Trotz put it, a few "mili-inches" and Boychuk could have been in serious jeopardy. That was not lost on Boychuk.
"It was really scary. You feel it hit your neck and just thoughts go through your mind," Boychuk said. "I'm just happy that nothing serious happened."
Those thoughts, of course, were about his family, especially as a father of three.
"He said there's so many things that race through your head," Trotz said. "You're a dad, you have family all that stuff and to think you'll be lying on the ice in a pool of blood, trying to hang on, he's very lucky."
Trotz said Boychuk was visibly pale during the intermission after his close call. He came back out for the third period, but skipped a shift or two as he gathered himself.
"Last night, in between periods when I went off I was in shambles," the usually bubbly Boychuk said in serious tones. "It was tough to even go out there again in the third and play even a couple shifts. I kept them extremely short."
Boychuk is available for the Islanders on Friday and is expected to play in a divisional clash against the Washington Capitals.
"Johnny was more shaken up mentally from that. That near-death experience, it can shake you up a bit," Trotz said.
As shaken as he was by the experience, Boychuk's lighthearted personality started to shine back through while addressing the media on Friday.
"Last night was difficult, but it's a new day today and you try to just do what you can and try to work hard and do what you can to help your team," Boychuk said. "I know tonight it'll be a good game again and I just have to keep your composure like Will Ferrell says and keep on truckin'."
