LOS ANGELES — Johnny Boychuk knew there might be a chance he was heading right back to the worst part of being a hockey player. If his left ankle swelled immediately when he took off his skate, Boychuk knew it likely meant a broken bone. Which meant watching hockey, not playing it.
Instead, Boychuk, 34, was right back in the lineup on Thursday night as the Islanders faced the Kings at Staples Center. The night before, Boychuk took a hard shoot off the inside of his skate in the second period of a 4-1 loss at Anaheim and had to be helped to the dressing room, where he demanded his skate be removed so he could learn the severity of the problem, before returning just before the second intermission.