Washington Capitals: Nicklas Backstrom won’t play in Game 2

A tough blow to the Washington Capitals. Nicklas Backstrom is out.

The Washington Capitals had a practice on Thursday morning at the Ford Performance Centre and following the session Lars Eller, Tom Wilson, and head coach Todd Reirden met with the media on Zoom. Reirden was expected to provide an update on Nicklas Backstrom, who left the game yesterday after a cheap shot late hit from Anders Lee.

The update Reirden gave wasn’t one that Caps fans wanted to hear.

Reirden told the media that Backstrom will not play in Game 2. “He’s in protocol,” the coach explained.

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A recap of what happened yesterday, Lee hit Backstrom less than three minutes into the game. Backstrom left the game after an apparent hit to the chest and it looks like he has an upper body injury. Teams aren’t allowed to disclose more than that.

With Backstrom out, expect Lars Eller to move to the second line while Travis Boyd slots into the third line. Eller welcomed a new baby boy and was quarantined for four days when he came back to Toronto. It ended on Wednesday but the Caps opted not to play him since he didn’t get any practice on the ice. Instead, he had to remain in his hotel room during the quarantine.

Tom Wilson was just one of several Caps players that wasn’t pleased with the hit. He even stuck up for his teammate getting involved in a fight as did John Carlson.

“It’s definitely fuel for the fire, in a way. Obviously we didn’t like the hit,” Wilson said. “We are going to do our best to play for him.”

Backstrom actually was able to finish the first period after the blindside hit but didn’t come back on the ice for the second or third. With Backstrom in protocol it means he likely also suffered a concussion from the hit.

An interesting fact that Caps PR pointed out is that Eller has had past success filling in that top six role.

"Over the last four seasons, Nicklas Backstrom or Evgeny Kuznetsov have been out of the lineup for 26 total games. In those 26 games, Lars Eller has 17 points (2g, 15a). Eller established a new career high in the 2019-20 regular season with 39 points (16g, 23a) and recorded a 51.89 face-off percentage, his highest since joining the Capitals in 2016-17."

Backstrom out of the lineup will be a big loss but as that fact pointed out, it’ll be nothing new for Boyd. We here at Stars and Sticks wish Backstrom a speedy recovery and hope he gets back on the ice. soon.