#1 N1KY
This is one of those rare occurrences where the number one moment of the season ultimately resulted in a loss. This loss came to the Buffalo Sabres but this moment wasn’t about the game. On this night it was about Nicklas Backstrom, who played in his 1,000th NHL game, all with the Caps.
Prior to morning skate, head coach Peter Laviolette announced the players would be rolling up to the arena in special t-shirts commemorating Backstrom’s milestone. He doesn’t like the attention but he 100 percent deserved it all that day. When players arrived there was a whole row of cardboard cutouts of Nick. You could even catch a glimpse of him looking at them wondering who the heck did this.
The tributes didn’t stop there. During warmups the players all wore Backstrom’s number 19 on their jerseys and even had a cool moment welcoming Nicklas to the ice by forming a tunnel with their sticks.
The Caps would then honor Backstrom prior to the game where he was joined by his finance Liza, their daughters Haley and Alize and son Vince. Backstrom was selected by the Caps with the number four pick in the 2006 NHL Draft, with Alex Ovechkin announcing the pick at the podium. Now the duo has each played in over 1,000 games. That is such a rarity and a special thing we got to see over the years.