Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom has told a Swedish newspaper that he suffered a fractured thumb during Monday’s game against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
A team official said that Backstrom is officially “day-to-day” without commenting on the specifics in the report by Aftonbladet, a tabloid newspaper based in Stockholm. The Caps have a team policy of not commenting on injuries unless they will keep a player out for an extended period. Backstrom was slashed by Penguins defenseman Kris Letang, his injured thumb obvious as he spoke with reporters afterwards, according to ESPN’s Scott Burnside.
The web site Japers’ Rink posted a partial translation of the Aftonbladet story this morning. Here’s that link. I did my own Google translation of the story.
“Yes, there is apparently a small fracture. It is not so good, but I do not feel so bad,” Backstrom told Aftonbladet. “I do not know. I think it is a question of day-to-day. It seems, as I say, not so bad right now. But we’ll see how it feels the next few days.”
Remember, Backstrom hasn’t missed a game in his NHL career. The fourth-year pro has appeared in all 61 games this season and 307 since the start of the 2007-08 season. Never once a healthy scratch as a rookie. Never sat out with an illness. And while statistically this will be his worst season since his first one the Caps can ill-afford to lose Backstrom for long. The team is thin on experienced centers as is with rookies Marcus Johansson and Mathieu Perreault anchoring the second and third lines. The NHL trade deadline is next Monday afternoon so if the report proves accurate general manager George McPhee still has some time to evaluate Backstrom’s status and decide if he needs to trade for another experienced center.
That news takes a bit of the shine off a 1-0 win at Pittsburgh on Monday to cap a 3-2 road trip. But with 21 games left the Caps have at least built a bit of breathing room in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
“It’s pretty damn nice [beating the Penguins], but we won four out of four two years ago also and then they beat us out in the playoffs anyway,” Backstrom told Aftonbladet. “So we must be careful not to count too much on this.”
No practice for Washington on Tuesday. Of course, the Caps weren’t supposed to anyway after the conclusion of a five-game, 10-day road trip. But they also had to spend the night in Pittsburgh thanks to last night’s inclement weather around the region. Hope to have more on Backstrom from practice tomorrow morning.
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