Washington Capitals Player of the Week: January 9-15

Who was a star for the Washington Capitals over the past week?

Again, the Washington Capitals are coming off another very impressive week. Four wins, two by shutout, against some of the top teams in the league have taken the Caps to the next level and have them sitting atop of the entire NHL with 63 points.

Not surprisingly, several players put up some big numbers over the week, but who was good enough to be the Stars and Sticks Player of the Week?

Alexander Ovechkin totaled seven points in four games and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career. Goalie Braden Holtby allowed just three goals in three games. and pitched a shutout against the mighty Chicago Blackhawks.

More from Editorials

While both Ovechkin and Holtby had fantastic weeks, one player stood out even more.

Nicklas Backstrom, who recently picked up his 500th career assist, has been on an absolute tear recently. Over the last four games he recorded three goals and seven assists to go along with a plus-7 rating. He also racked up three points on the man advantage.

He scored in each of the first three games to start the week. Along with the goals, Backstrom was up to his usual tricks of dishing the puck to his teammates. He recorded at least one assist in all four games, including three on Wednesday against Pittsburgh and two versus Philadelphia Sunday.

Backstrom has always been a dynamic playmaker, and after starting this season slow, he’s back to playing at an elite level. When Backstrom is distributing the puck and pitching in goals the Caps are clearly a better team.

That was the case over the past week, as Backstrom was a big key to the success of the Capitals. He played great, and they won four games. If Washington is going to keep the win streak going then Backstrom needs to continue his stellar play.

Based on the big number he put up, Nicklas Backstrom has to be considered the Stars and Sticks Players of the week.