Star center plays for first time in three months in 3-2 win over Montreal
Nicklas Backstrom’s image flashed on the giant HD scoreboard at Verizon Center and hundreds of fans who had entered the arena early to watch warm-ups gave him a loud ovation.
The 24-year-old Swede, playing for the first time since Jan. 3, couldn’t suppress a smile as he prepared for Saturday’s game against the Montreal Canadiens. About 45 minutes later, when Backstrom was announced as a starter, a full house let loose with a sustained roar. Their star center was finally back.
It didn’t matter that Backstrom was simply trying to shake off almost three months of rust. The dramatic 3-2 shootout victory over the Montreal Canadiens was more than enough to make his return a successful one.
Mathieu Perreault and Jay Beagle gave the Caps the early advantage with a pair first-period goals. But Montreal answered with a late first-period strike by Washington nemesis Erik Cole with 22 seconds left and a second-period tally by Tomas Plekanec. It is the third time in five games the Caps have blown a two-goal lead.
“It doesn’t matter. We just want the wins,” defenseman Karl Alzner said. “We’re building towards making the playoffs. At this point, this is our team, this is how we play, regardless if it’s 5-0 wins or losing 2-0 leads. It’s a team that we’re hopefully going to win everything with, and it might be like this right till the end.”
They won for a second straight time in a shootout with Matt Hendricks and Alex Semin providing the only successful attempts. Otherwise, goalie Michal Neuvirth (39 saves) stopped one Canadiens shot and they missed wide on the other.
The Caps (40-31-8, 88 points) took advantage of some good fortune after ninth-place Buffalo (38-31-10, 86 points) dropped a game at struggling Toronto on Saturday. That leaves Washington two points ahead in the chase for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot and it owns the tiebreaker.
The Caps also kept pace with No. 7 Ottawa (40-28-10, 90 points) and gained ground on Southeast Division-leader Florida (37-25-16, 90 points) so multiple avenues to postseason play remain.
“I think this last games going to be very hard. Again, a team help us. Toronto beat Buffalo,” left wing Alex Ovechkin said. “Next game is going to be very important for us and it’s going to be huge for us. It’s the playoffs right now. Start for us a long time ago. We just have to take these points and play forward.”
Backstrom returned to the lineup for the first time since taking an elbow to the jaw in that Jan. 3 game against the Calgary Flames. Ironically, the man who hit him, Rene Bourque, now plays for Montreal. Backstrom said before the game that wasn’t an issue that concerned him.
In the end, he played 19 minutes, 40 seconds. That’s a little more than Backstrom expected, but coach Dale Hunter was going to use him extensively on the power play and Washington had five chances. Backstrom took two shots on goal, won 12 of his 18 faceoffs (67 percent) and just missed connecting with Alex Ovechkin for a goal. He was also on the ice when Cole scored his goal late in the first period.
To his surprise, Backstrom said he had plenty of energy early. But that waned quickly as the game wore on – his legs burning and his lungs searing. That will take time to regain after three months away from game action. But after skating hard and taking a few decent hits from the Canadiens, some of his worries about returning eased.
“It’s a relief, actually,” Backstrom said. “I’ve been thinking a lot about this game and if I’m ready or not. Couldn’t really sleep before the game. So it’s a little back and forth. But I tell you right now I made the right decision. I was happy to be back and I felt pretty good – even if I was a little rusty.”
