Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk still dealing with limited vision in his left eye

Earlier this month against Montreal, Islanders defenseman Johnny Boychuk had a scary incident when a skate blade cut the area just above his left eye. He immediately left the game and required 90 stitches and a plastic surgeon to fix his eyelid.

The blueliner met with reporters, including Newsday’s Andrew Gross, earlier this week, and indicated he still has limited vision in that eye:

"Once the swelling comes down, it’ll be a lot better," Boychuk said. "I can see probably 60 percent out of that eye. It’s just the swelling that’s pushing it down and it doesn’t feel good when the sweat gets in your eye."

Despite that, Boychuk returned to practice this week but was ruled out of Thursday’s scheduled game against Calgary before the league suspended the season because of the cornonavirus outbreak. The layoff should give Boycuk a chance to regain some more sight in that eye and should make him available to return whenever games resume.

Boychuk's return would be key for an Islanders team that was sliding considerably heading into this stoppage, to the point where they fell out of a playoff spot.

While his offensive numbers have taken a tumble in recent years (Boychuk has just 11 points in 64 games this season), he is the Isles' most physical blueliner and sits second in shots blocked. He averages over 17 minutes a night, making him an important part of New York's back end.