The Washington Capitals waited to see if Nicklas Backstrom was able to play but the Caps center was ultimately ruled out for Game Six against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday night. Backstrom missed the Capitals morning skate ahead of the pivital matchup. and Caps coach Barry Trotz deemed him a 'game-time' decision.
Backstrom left midway through the third period during the Capitals 6-3 Game 5 victory on Saturday and did not return. It was later announced that the 30-year-old sustained an upper-body injury and that no further updates were available.
Alex Ovechkin fully expected his teammate to be on the ice Monday night despite Backstrom's absence from the morning skate.
"I think he's in. We'll see."
However, the injury to Backstrom's hand proved to be too much to bear.
Backstrom trails only Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov in team scoring with 13 points during the postseason. The Swede plays a crucial role on Washington's special teams, which leads all teams with 13 goals and a 31.7 percent power play efficiency in the playoffs. While it may be a tall task to replace the veteran if he sits out, the Caps are prepared to revamp their lineup as the morning skate indicated.
Lars Eller, who centers the team's third line, was bumped up to Backstrom's spot on the second line between Jakub Vrana and TJ Oshie. As a result, Travis Boyd draws into the lineup for the first time since April 5 should Backstrom not play.
Washington is already without the injured Andre Burakovsky and the suspended Tom Wilson Monday, with the Caps leading the best-of-seven series 3-2.
Caps lines seem to indicate no Backstrom tonight:
— Tom Gulitti (@TomGulittiNHL) May 7, 2018
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Stephenson
Vrana-Eller-Oshie
Connolly-Boyd-DSP
Walker-Beagle-Chiasson
Looks like Walker is in for Gersich.
Obviously not official
The Capitals have yet to advance to the conference finals in the Ovechkin-Backstrom era. They are a part of a dreaded curse that plagued over Washington D.C. for nearly two decades. Since 1998, Washington-based teams are 0-13 when a berth to the conference final is on the line. Backstrom and co. notably fell one game short of the conference final in 2009 — a 6-2 loss to the Penguins — before Sidney Crosby advanced to win his first Stanley Cup.