"I was glad to sit in the box for five minutes after that one," he joked.
Witkowski has been contributing in a number of different, and unexpected, areas for the Lightning since being inserted into the lineup for the last two games. Starting March 4 at Buffalo, Witkowski was asked to move up a few feet and play forward for the Lightning, joining Gabriel Dumont and Cedric Paquette on the Bolts' fourth line.
Witkowski earned 9:51 of ice time against the Sabres and followed it up with a shot and hit in 7:54 of action two days later at forward against the Rangers.
"He's our new Brian Boyle," Cooper said after the Rangers game when asked about Witkowski's role reversal. "Versatile player, and he's played forward before. What I liked though was his energy. He's skating. He's physical. He's intimidating. He had some great plays off the rush. They were crashing the net. He's big. He's heavy. I think in the two games he's played for us, whether he's been playing up or back, he's brought a lot of positive emotion to our team. It's been good."
Witkowski has found cracking the Lightning lineup difficult at times this season. Prior to the Buffalo contest, Witkowski was healthy scratched nine-consecutive games. He's played in just 18 games this season.
So when the Lightning coaching staff approached him about moving temporarily to right wing, a position change that might allow him to see more ice time, Witkowski was receptive.
"Obviously, I want to be playing, whether it's forward, D, goalie, I don't care," he said. "I want to be in the lineup. (Monday), I thought I was going to be playing defense. I was penciled in as defense before the game, and they called me up front."
Witkowski has adapted to his new role well. In addition to inspiring his teammates with his extended fisticuffs against Glass - a fight Witkowski called "a draw" a day later - the defenseman-turned-forward proved a handful on the forecheck and produced some quality scoring chances while leading the rush.
"I think I have enough speed and I can be big on the forecheck and hard to play against," Witkowski said. "It's going to take a while to get used to it. Just to be able to do that and (the coaches) to have the confidence in me to do that means a lot to me."
Witkowski's short-term experiment at forward could become a more extended stay depending on what the matchup dictates.