Capitals hope to overcome loss of Backstrom
Plus: NHL Video - Bourque suspended 5 games for hit

By Chris Kober  |  Hockeytalk.biz

JANUARY 12, 2012 -- The Washington Capitals have faced many challenges over the past year and a half, ranging from early playoff exits to sub-standard offensive output from stars like Alexander Ovechkin and Alex Semin. They’ve gone through an overhaul to their playing style and a coaching change, but their most pressing issue at the moment is one for which time is the only solution. On January 3, Center Nicklas Backstrom was elbowed in the head by Calgary’s Rene Bourque and is currently listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.

Bourque was suspended five games without pay by Senior Vice President of Player Safety Brendan Shanahan for the play, which Shanahan described as “reckless” and “a clear violation of Rule 48: Illegal Check to the Head.” The ruling however, has little to no bearing on the Capitals, who find themselves without their top scorer and sit eighth in the Eastern Conference standings at the halfway point of the season (41GP: 22-17-2; 46PTS). 

Prior to the injury, Backstrom (left) had recorded 13 goals and 42 points in 38 games, putting him on pace to equal his sophomore season point total of 88 – the second highest of his career. In fact, he tallied a season high three assists to continue a five game scoring streak in the game against Calgary.

The loss of Backstrom to the Washington lineup will likely be felt most severely in the corresponding drop-off in scoring from Ovechkin, whose elite finishing abilities go hand in hand with Backstrom’s playmaking skills. They feed off of each other and it’s no coincidence that both Backstrom and Ovechkin recorded career low offensive numbers last season, 18-47-65 and 32-53-85 respectively.

Backstrom has assisted on 12 of Ovechkin’s 17 goals so far this season; that’s a whopping 70 percent. Ovechkin was riding a seven game point scoring streak including four consecutive multi-point games when Backstrom was injured. He went scoreless in the two games that Backstrom has missed so far with the injury, which correlates to team struggles. The Capitals have a record of 2-11-1 this season when Ovechkin is held off the score sheet.

As a result of the Backstrom injury, Ovechkin has been placed on a line with Brower and Brooks Laich, both of whom are valued more for their two-way play than their offensive prowess.

“My line with Brooksie and Browsie [had] a couple chances,” Ovechkin told Hockeytalk of the game against the Kings, “but other than that we don’t do nothing in the offensive zone. I think it was [because of] communication in the neutral zone and we start playing in the defensive zone … we just give the puck away and give them the puck and we start playing more defensively.”

A testament to what Ovechkin is referring to came Monday night while the Kings led 2-1.

“Brooksie, or someone gave it to Ovie,” Head Coach Dale Hunter recalled to Hockeytalk, “and he was right on top of the goalie and he made a save, it [could have been] 2-2 and they go right down after and made it 3-1 so there’s always a turning point in the game and they came right down after and they scored and that was the difference.”

Having Backstrom feed Ovechkin in that situation wouldn’t necessarily have turned the tide in Washington’s favor however, the presence of a player who averages one second of penalty kill time per game and carries a -8 in Ovechkin on what is effectively a checking line is not ideal to say the least.

It isn’t only point production that the Caps miss with Backstrom out of the lineup. The Gavle, Sweden native trails only Ovechkin in average time on ice among Washington’s forwards and sees an average of just over a minute of penalty kill time per game.

Every team sees some form of adversity over the course of a season. The Caps have had their share as star defenseman Mike Green has struggled to regain and retain his health and the group adjusts to a new coaching staff but as they reach the season’s midpoint, all they can hope is that the injury to Backstrom who, at this point, is arguably the team's best player, ends up being far less serious than it appeared.

VIDEO COURTESY NHL:

CALGARY'S RENE BOURQUE SUSPENDED 5 GAMES
FOR HIT ON WASHINGTON'S BACKSTROM

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