Backstrom, who led the National Hockey League with 60 assists last season, had arthroscopic hip surgery in late May and missed the first three games of the season.
Advertisement
The Washington Capitals got their star center Nicklas Backstrom back tonight.
Backstrom made a triumphant return to the lineup Saturday, scoring a goal and setting up two others in the Capitals’ 4-1 home victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. Oshie added a goal and an assist and the Capitals defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1.
That wasn’t enough for the Maple Leafs though as they still suffered a 2-1 loss to the Penguins.
Defenseman John Carlson and left wing Alex Ovechkin added third period goals for Washington (3-1-0), which won the final two games of its four-game season-opening homestand.
Power-play opportunities_Carolina 0 of 4; Washington 2 of 2. Forward Phil Kessel faced Toronto for the first time since the Leafs shipped the three-time All-Star to Pittsburgh in a blockbuster July trade.
The Hurricanes were outshot by a whopping 17-5 margin in the first 20 minutes, but trailed just 1-0.
The Capitals improved to 3-1 on the season and they moved to the top of the division with six standing points. Oshie again positionec himself in the center and was fed by Backstrom and Oshie buried a slapper past Cam Ward for the first tally of the game.
McDavid, the much-hyped first overall pick in the 2015 draft, scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period, set up the Oilers’ fourth goal in the third period and chipped in a nice feed from Taylor Hall for the fifth with 3:28 left.
Advertisement
A native of Gavle, Sweden, Backstrom posted career highs of 33 goals and 101 points in 2009-10 but has not come close to those totals since.
