Backstrom's Goal to Remember

It wasn't exactly the way Nicklas Backstrom had envisioned scoring his first NHL goal. But after going 15 games without one, the Washington Capitals rookie wasn't about to get picky.

Backstrom crashed Ottawa's net Thursday night at Scotiabank Place, fought off Senators center Chris Kelly, then whacked a loose puck out of midair past goaltender Ray Emery on a second-period power play. A thing of beauty it was not, but Backstrom's milestone moment spurred the Capitals to a 4-1 victory over the Eastern Conference's best team.

"It was a dirty goal, but it counts," Backstrom said with a smile after yesterday's optional practice at Kettler Capitals Iceplex. "It was a very important goal in the game. So I'm glad I scored it."

Earlier this month, Backstrom's drought caused a bit of consternation on the part of Coach Glen Hanlon, who broached the subject during an informal meeting with the former first-round pick.

"I went to him and asked if he had ever gone 12 games without scoring," Hanlon said. "I thought he was going to say, 'No.' And I was going to have to say, 'Hang in there.' But he said it wasn't bothering him. He's not all about scoring. He's all about winning and setting up people to score."

Said Backstrom: "I didn't feel any pressure on me. I had the same problem last year in Sweden. I didn't score [often], but I had lots of assists."

Then, after a brief pause, he started smiling again. "It's an unbelievable feeling to score my first goal," he said.

Drafted as a playmaking center, Hanlon put the Swede on the left wing for the season's opening month in the hopes taking some of the pressure off as he adjusted to the North American game. Wingers have considerably less responsibility at both ends of the ice.

But injury problems, and a coinciding goal-scoring slump for Backstrom and his teammates, prompted Hanlon to move the 19-year-old to his natural position for good on Tuesday.

It paid off immediately. Backstrom responded with an eye-opening performance in the Capitals' 2-1 overtime loss in Atlanta. He centered the second line between wingers Tomas Fleischmann and Viktor Kozlov.

Backstrom's breakthrough, however, came two days later against the Senators.

Not only did he score the winner, he also logged a career-high 21 minutes 50 seconds of ice time, significantly more than his season average of 14:40 per game.