Rick Osentoski – USA TODAY Sports
It appeared as if the Washington Capitals were dead in the water as they trailed 3-1 heading into the third period, but two goals from captain Alexander Ovechkin and fourth-line center Michael Latta proved to be enough as Nicklas Backstrom lifted his team to victory in the third round of the 4-3 shootout victory over the Detroit Red Wings.
The main observation to take from this contest? Resiliency.
Head coach Adam Oates has to be pleased with his players after a victory like this one because while they started off slow and could have given the Red Wings their first home victory in their last seven tries, Washington showed why they will be a team to be reckoned with down the road. The Capitals overcame two penalties by Tom Wilson — Washington’s only two penalties that unfortunately both resulted in goals — and were also able to fill the void of Mike Green as John Carlson and Karl Alzner stepped up mightily in his absence… especially Carlson.
Carlson was seemingly on the ice for over 30 minutes, almost every single special teams play for the Capitals and played to a plus-two rating, along with an assist on Latta’s first career NHL goal. While he looked lost at times on the power play, as Washington his over the last week in general, his powerful shot will still present in Green’s absence. His positioning seems a little off and he appeared to get happy feet and overly excited at times on the mad-advantage, but he was no doubt the best player on the ice for Washington Friday night.
Braden Holtby also had himself another stellar game, despite giving up three goals to the 21st-ranked offense in the NHL. The 24-year-old made a few highlight reel saves throughout the hockey game and held his ground impressively in the shootout rounds, especially against one of the best stick-handling skaters in the league in Pavel Datsyuk. Holtby’s positioning has really improved a lot this season and it showed during the brief time 3-on-3 hockey was being played in overtime.
Once the shootout came around, the Capitals trotted out their usual three: Mikhail Grabovski, Alexander Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom to seal the deal. Even though the first two were stuffed by Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard, Backstrom wasn’t intimidated and fooled the netminder with a soft touch into the far corner of the net.
Was there ever a doubt when the game was on his stick that Backstrom would bury it and clinch the two points?
It’s been said time and time again that Backstrom has a great shot and excellent touch, but it has to be seen more. It has hard to find shots in the offense with guys like Green and Ovechkin taking shots from everywhere, but at times, Nicklas passes up open opportunities to try and make the perfect play as opposed to the right play which is keeping the puck on his own tape of his stick and letting it go.
Backstrom is who he is and will never become a true sniper, but if the rest of the NHL has learned anything new about this Capitals team that they didn’t already know, it’s that Nicklas Backstrom is even more dangerous than most people think. His offensive repertoire isn’t limited to being a play-making passer. His shot has some zip and accuracy that can beat any goalie on any given night. Without Ovechkin, he was the leading goal scorer with three gals in two games. He has the ability, it just has to be seen more often.
