Your "plant id expert" made a guess that has a very good probability of being correct.
Lonicera japonica and Lonicera sempervirens can appear very similar at this time of year, depending on the harshness of the winter, age of the plants, etc...
During the peak of growing season Lonicera japonica generally has darker leaves than Lonicera sempervirens and the underside of Lonicera sempervirens leaves tend to have a bluish green cast.
But as I said earlier, when they flower - they become easy to tell apart - because they look nothing alike then.
If you miss the flowering, you can also tell them apart by the berries. Lonicera japonica has black berries and Lonicera sempervirens tends to have slight smaller berries that are red.
As for the Wiki stuff about Lonicera japonica, I will just be silent. It's the best winter deer browse in my area, and I have no trouble at all controlling it at a woodland edge or anywhere else for that matter.....
PS: You should feel blessed having a plant id expert. We don't have anyone like that in these here parts of the woods.....