#6 N1KY
This is one of those rare moments that resulted in a loss on the scoreboard. Despite the Caps falling to the Buffalo Sabres that night we all celebrated the milestone of Nicklas Backstrom reaching his 1,000th game. We sure wish though that we could’ve done it in person.
The Caps lost 5-2 with the two goals coming from Dmitry Orlov and Anthony Mantha. But this night was all about Nicky and his historic milestone, joining his bro Alex Ovechkin as the only other Capital to play 1,000 career NHL games all with the Caps.
The Caps pulled out all the stops that night. The players rolled up to the arena in N1KY t shirts and every player wore a navy blue number 19 jersey during pregame warmups. There were even a whole line of cardboard cutouts of Backstrom’s face in the hallway leading up to the locker room.
We also got to witness a pregame ceremony celebrating the achievement. He was joined on the ice by his fiancé Liza Berg, their daughters Haley (7) and Alizee (1), and son Vince (4) as well as Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan.
The video tribute was very moving:
"“It’s fun to watch how you’re growing up as a person, as a player,” Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin said to Backstrom in the video tribute. “I wish you all the best to you and your family. Keep going and 1,000 more games to come.”"