Caps center Nicklas Backstrom should be back in the lineup tonight when Washington plays the New Jersey Devils here in Newark.
“It feels good. I’m ready to go,” Backstrom said.
That would be his fractured left thumb. Backstrom has missed the last five games as the team attempted to let his injury heal. Watching from the press box isn’t easy for a guy who had played in every one of his first 313 NHL games. Backstrom wore a fiberglass splint on his left hand wrapped in gauze when he took line rushes at the morning skate here at Prudential Center. But he said that was just for safety reasons.
“I’m so excited,” Backstrom said. “It’s been a couple games and obviously you don’t want to sit out. It was a new thing for me. Kind of fun to get back and do the same thing you’ve always been doing – play hockey and play games.”
Now, Caps coach Bruce Boudreau cautioned that Backstrom was still a game-time decision. He skated on the second line alongside Alex Semin and Marco Sturm. Rookie Marcus Johansson was on the top line with Alex Ovechkin and Mike Knuble. Brooks Laich centered the third line.
“ I wouldn’t play if I weren’t 100 percent,” Backstrom said.
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