Backstrom now image of joy
Center’s turnaround continues with fourth career playoff OT goal
WASHINGTON — Nicklas Backstrom’s voice was hoarse and soft as he leaned back against the wall. “It’s been terrible,” he said last May. “Obviously.”
A year earlier, he had promised Washington Capitals fans that the team would break through eventually, that he too had grown tired of repeated postseason disappointment. Then, as the Capitals once again found themselves ousted short of the conference final last season, Backstrom looked defeated. Perhaps no other player wore the frustration of the organization more than he did.
Coach Barry Trotz has spoke often of how his team was still in mourning when players arrived for training camp. That period of grief seemed to extend through mid-November, when after a miserable loss in Colorado, Trotz was harsh in the locker room and called several players out by name. That moment sparked the team’s turnaround as it went on to win a third Game 6 straight Metropolitan Division and finally move on from the sting of how last season ended.
“Yeah, there’s disappointment,” Trotz said. “And Nicky’s been part of this group that’s been here for a while, so there’s no question he’s had to manage that.”
That “terrible” feeling seemed to linger longest for Backstrom, who had an unimpressive season by his high standards, finishing with his fewest points per game (.88) in seven years. Then in Saturday’s Game 5, Backstrom tipped a shot past Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky for the overtime game-winner, his second goal of the game as the Capitals moved one win away from advancing to the second round. Backstrom jumped into the arms of forward T.J. Oshie, and as more bodies latched onto him in celebration, Backstrom raised his stick and smiled, the player who’s been the picture of Washington’s playoff pain now the image of its joy.
“If you look at last year, I’ve been waiting for this to start,” Backstrom said.
Through the first four games of the series, Backstrom had collected five points on a power play that’s scored in every game this series, but he’d been quiet at even strength. Just as when Backstrom’s play suffered at the start of the season, Trotz trusted the veteran to figure it out on his own.
When 23-year-old wing Andre Burakovsky’s season got off to a poor start, a broken thumb that forced him to miss 20 games, he would often turn to his fellow Swede in Backstrom for words of wisdom. Backstrom’s response: “Your stretch isn’t too bad. I’ve got a worse one.”
He didn’t score a goal from midOctober to early December, 21 games where he had nine assists. Backstrom said he “wasn’t too worried about it,” but at the time, he acknowledged that he needed to be better. He finished the year on a tear: six goals and19 assists in the final 18 games. His four career playoff overtime goals are tied for fifth-most in NHL history.
“I’ve never been worried about Nicky,” Trotz said.