Capital drought, without a doubt

Centre Backstrom hoping for a bounce as goal-scoring slump hits 20-game mark

WASHINGTON— Nicklas Backstrom knows his career-worst goal drought is 23 games, the last 23 of the 2014-15 regular season. As a rookie, he went 20 games without a goal, though he still scored 20 points in that span. There was also that 21-game stretch during the 2010-11 season. He knows his current dry spell is somewhere up there with those others.

“How many games has it been?” he asked Friday.

Nineteen games then. Twenty after another goalless game Saturday.

“Obviously, you want to score,” Backstrom said. “You get so frustrated. I’m aware of the situation, but what am I going to do? I can’t just lay down and play dead. You’ve got to keep trying, and eventually, hopefully it’ll come.”

It’s not that Backstrom has played poorly — he has five assists in his last five games, and eight in the last 11 — but along with setting up other players to score, the Capitals count on his goal production as well. Washington coach Barry Trotz has previously said Backstrom should reach 20 goals every season. Though he has 20 points through 26 games this season, just three are goals, putting him on the worst pace of his career. There’s plenty of time for that to improve, and Backstrom is understandably anxious to end his goal-scoring schneid.

“I’m aware I’ve got to be better there,” Backstrom said. “I’m not a big goal scorer, but at the same time, I’ve got to produce and help out the team to win as many games as possible.”

Backstrom’s production has improved in the five games he and star winger Alex Ovechkin have been reunited. In the 15 games before that change, Backstrom had just four points, all assists. Now, he’s back on a point-per-game pace and he’s come close to snapping his streak. Backstrom had an opportunity to tap in an Ovechkin pass into a half-open net Thursday, but the puck jumped over his stick, the latest example of just how snake-bit he has been lately.

Backstrom hasn’t scored fewer than 18 goals in a full season since his rookie year a decade ago.

“As long as you create chances, that’s a good sign,” Backstrom said. “If you don’t even create chances, then you know you’re struggling for real. I think I’ve just got to stay patient, work hard and do the right things out there. Then hopefully I’ll get rewarded soon.”

Said Trotz: “Nicky’s going to score some goals. History will tell you that. If you talk to him, he might not say he’s thinking about it, but he probably is a little bit . . . Obviously, when you’ve got Ovi on your one side, he’s trying to get it over to him a lot of the time. But at the same time, Nick shoots it pretty good. Just like any player, when you’re really feeling it, you want to shoot every puck. When you’re not, you’re trying to get maybe a little too fine.”

Backstrom’s rate of taking shots is down from 6.73 per 60 minutes of five-on-five last year to 5.35 this season. He said he could probably go to the front of the net more and hope for a rebound.

“At this point, I don’t really care,” he said. “Hopefully someone shoots it at me, and it’ll bounce in.”