Nicklas Backstrom
"Paralyze resistance with persistence."
-- Woody Hayes
Even now, with a championship on his resume, there is a
nagging tendency to take Nicklas Backstrom for granted or lose him in the
lineup of great players of the last decade.
Maybe it’s the goal scoring.
True, coming into this season Backstrom was wedged between Alexandre Burrows
and Bryan Little in the rankings since the 2007-2008 season, when Backstrom
came into the league. But only Joe
Thornton and Henrik Sedin had more assists over the same period, and Backstrom
was second on the list in assists per game (to Sidney Crosby) and was eighth in
points per game (minimum: 400 games).
What it comes down to, though, is the style. Backstrom might not have a parallel in
bending the pace of a game to his liking.
In that respect, Coach Hayes’ quote about paralyzing resistance with
persistence is fitting. Throw in
“consistent,” and you have Backstrom. In
2017, Backstrom:
- Appeared in 81 games, making it 80 of more games for the seventh time in ten full seasons (not including the abbreviated 2012-2013 season)
- Recorded 21 goals, the fifth time he hit or topped the 20-goal mark
- Added 50 assists, the eighth time he hit or topped the 50-assist mark
- Posted 71 points, the seventh time he hit or topped the 70-point mark
- Scored seven power play goals, fourth-most for a season in his career
- Had 27 power play points, making it eight in which he had 25 or more power play points in a season
- Recorded four game-winning goals, tied for second-most in his career
Drill down into his season, though, and there were dents in
that armor of consistency. His goal
scoring was reasonably consistent across the eight segments, only once
finishing with fewer than two goals and once with more than three. But his assist totals thinned out in the
middle portion of the season. He had 20 assists over his first three ten-game
segments, but he had only 16 over his next four. He closed with a rush, though, going 6-20-26
in his last two ten-game segments. Seems
he got a bit more ornery over the same segments, too. He had almost half of his 46 penalty minutes
(22) in those last two segments.
Fearless’ Take… Nicklas Backstrom is still arguably the
straw that stirs the drink for the Caps.
They were 33-6-3 in games in which he recorded a point, 16-19-4 when
they did not; 16-2-3 when he recorded a goal, 33-23-4 when he did not. He was also a consistent player by venue,
going 10-24-34 in 41 home games and 11-26-37 in 40 road games. The consistency was hardly unusual. Backstrom finished the regular season with 14
goals and 406 points in 407 career home games, and 105 goals and 393 points in
408 road games.
Cheerless’ Take… It would be fair to say that Backstrom is
now the second-line center. No sin in
that, but after spending the better part of his first decade in the league
centering Alex Ovechkin, that job was Evgeny Kuznetsov’s this season. It might have played a role in Backstrom finishing
with his lowest points per game (0.88) since his rookie season (0.84). Yes, he
had those 50 assists for the eighth time in his career, but it was his
second-lowest total for any season in which he appeared in more than 50 games
(47 in 77 games in 2010-2011), and it was his lowest career assists per game
(0.62) of any of his 11 seasons.
Odd Backstrom Fact… In 2017-2018 Nicklas Backstrom scored 21
goals. He scored those 21 goals in 21
different games, making this the first full season in his career he did not have a
multi-goal game (excluding the abbreviated 2012-2013 season in which he had
eight goals in eight different games on the 48-game schedule).
Game to Remember… February 6th at Columbus
When the Caps visited the Columbus Blue Jackets in early
February, they held a three-point lead over the New Jersey Devils at the top of
the Metropolitan Division. However, they
were in the midst of a slump of sorts, losers of two straight and with a 3-4-2
over their previous nine games. The
teams traded first period goals, and Tom Wilson scored in the second to give
the Caps a lead going into the last 20 minutes.
The Caps were playing a somewhat desperate team, though. The Blue Jackets went into this game tied
with the New York Islanders for fourth place in the division and only three points
ahead of the last-place New York Rangers.
They drew even late in the period when Brandon Dubinsky batted in a
rebound of his own shot with just 6:05 left in regulation. The teams might have gone to extra time, but
with less than a minute left, this happened…
Game to Forget… January 11th vs. Carolina
The Caps were closing out a three-game home stand in early
January against the Carolina Hurricanes, bringing a five-game winning streak
into the contest. It was the second time
that the Caps would face the ‘Canes in barely a week and part of a stretch in
which they would face Carolina three times in five games. The first game in
this trifecta was a tough one, the Caps winning a 5-4 decision on an overtime
goal by Alex Ovechkin. This game was
proving to be as closely fought. The
teams went to the first intermission scoreless.
The scoreless tie was broken mid-way through the second period when, on
a Caps power play, Jordan Staal intercepted a weak cross-ice pass from John
Carlson intended for Alex Ovechkin and scored on a breakaway shorthanded. Lars Eller tied the game for the Caps late in
the period, but Carolina regained the lead mid-way through the third on a goal
by Victor Rask. Sebastien Aho added an
empty net goal for the final 3-1 margin.
As for Backstrom, he was on ice for all three Carolina goals and did not
have a shot attempt in the contest. The
odd part of it is that it was the 11th time in his career Backstrom
did not register a shot on goal against Carolina, second-most by a Capital
against that team since he entered the league (Jeff Schultz: 17).
Postseason… Until
this postseason, Nicklas Backstrom had never missed a postseason game to
injury. The only one of 97 playoff games
for the Caps that he missed before this season was due to his receiving a
one-game suspension for a cross-check he administered to Rich Peverley of the
Boston Bruins at the end of Game 3 of their 2012 series. Then, he was in the lineup for the Caps’
first 11 postseason games this year. In
that 11th game, though, Backstrom was helping kill a Pittsburgh
Penguin power play when he blocked a shot off the stick of Justin Schultz, and
while he did play after that, he did so in distress and sat out the last 13 minutes in a 6-3 Caps win.
To that point, Backstrom was 3-10-13 in
scoring, a points total only exceeded in an entire playoff season once in his
career (2009, when he had 15 points in 14 games).
Backstrom missed the Caps’ next four games, the
series-clinching win against the Penguins in Pittsburgh and then the first
three games of the conference final against Tampa Bay. That four-game absence might have been longer
but for the fact that after clinching the series win against the Penguins and
winning Games 1 and 2 in Tampa against the Lightning in the conference final,
the Caps lost Game 3 on home ice. He
returned for Games 4 and 5, both Caps losses that put Washington on the brink
of elimination. Backstrom raised his
game in Game 6, recording a pair of assists in a 3-0 win. It was the first of what would be a superb
run for Backstrom, who went 2-8-10 in the Caps’ last seven playoff games, six
of them wins. Only once in that stretch
did Backstrom not record a point, that being in Game 3 against Vegas in the
final. He finished the postseason
5-18-23 in 20 games, his 18 assists equaling the total he posted in his
previous 40 playoff games before this season. Those 18 assists are also the second-highest total by a Capital in the postseason in team history (Evgeny Kuznetsov had 20 in these playoffs).
In the end…
It is a foregone conclusion at this point that Alex Ovechkin
will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
It should be one regarding Nicklas Backstrom as well. In 11 NHL seasons he has 590 assists, 59
assists per 82 games played. If he plays
another six seasons, he could well top 900 assists for his career. At the moment, 19 players in NHL history
complied 900 or more assists in their careers.
Of that group, 17 are already in the Hall of Fame, and Joe Thornton and
Jaromir Jagr would appear locks. Even of
the 31 players with 800 or more assists, 27 are in the Hall, three are active (and likely to be inducted), leaving
only Pierre Turgeon (last season: 2006-2007) as Hall-eligible who has not been
inducted.
This is the position into which 11 years of excellence has
placed Backstrom. He is on a very short
list of best playmakers of his time and might be eclipsed only by Ovechkin as
the greatest Capital of all time. His
2017-2018 season was a tribute to his consistency and resolve. He overcame a bit of unfamiliarity with new
linemates and then injury in the postseason, a pair of fractures to his finger being
the sort of injury that could cripple a lesser player who depends on deft
passing as the core of his game. In one
respect – the absence of fireworks in his game – his 2017-2018 season was like
any other, but while he might paralyze opponents with pesistence, those in
Capitals Nation who have watched his game over the past 11 seasons know that a
fire lurks under that quiet demeanor.
Photo: Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post
No comments:
Post a Comment