Islanders' Bo Horvat laughs off viral visor flick on William Eklund, which stemmed from stolen stick
Islanders center Bo Horvat against the San Jose Sharks on March 7, 2026. Credit: AP/Godofredo A. Vásquez
ST. LOUIS — Bo Horvat wasn’t particularly amused in the moment. But two days later as he provided context to why he tried to dislodge William Eklund’s helmet as the Sharks forward sat on the team’s bench, which drew a $2,500 fine from the NHL, the Islanders top-line center gets the laughs at the viral clip.
Horvat told Newsday on Monday that Eklund started it.
“It was part of that whole scrum and he stole my stick and chucked it down the hallway. There’s video of it,” Horvat said of the incident at 16:15 of the third period of the Islanders’ 2-1 overtime win in San Jose on Saturday night. “I went over and asked for my stick back and he said he didn’t know where it was when, clearly he did. So I just did that and left and ended up with a $2,500 fine.
“It wasn’t like I just went over there and flicked his visor up for no reason. It looks hilarious on the video so I’m hoping everybody got a good laugh out of it.”
Horvat said he had no prior history of disagreements with Eklund, in his third full NHL season and the older brother of Victor Eklund, selected 16th overall by the Islanders in June.
“It’s one of those interactions I’ll probably never forget,” Horvat said. “At least we got a chuckle out of it.”
Andrew Gross joined Newsday in 2018 to cover the Islanders. He began reporting on the NHL in 2003 and has previously covered the Rangers and Devils. Other assignments have included the Jets, St. John’s and MLB.
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