“Owwie!” (Photo credit: championat.com)

Almost one year ago to the day, Calgary Flames’ winger Rene Bourque elbowed Nicklas Backstrom in the side of the head, forcing the Capitals number-one center to the sidelines for three months with a concussion. The Capitals struggled in his absence, but 40 games later, after being magically healed by Tiesto, Backstrom returned for the playoff push and suffered no apparent setbacks.

On Wednesday, Backstrom fans got another scare when Nicklas took an awkward second period hit from Milan Kytnár during Dynamo’s 2-1 (SO) win over Slovan.

As Backstrom tries to spin while forechecking, Kytnár checks Backstrom in the numbers, forcing Nicky to fall head-first into the boards. The side of Backstrom’s head and neck takes the brunt of the hit. Nicky then slowly picks himself up off the ice and skates gingerly towards the bench.

Backstrom would take one more shift and then call it a day. After icing his neck with Dynamo’s head trainer on the bench, Backstrom would go off to the locker room.

SportsBox.ru’s Dinara Kafiskina is reporting that after being fully examined by Dynamo doctor Valery Konov, Backstrom is not seriously hurt. The doctor says that Backstrom has a neck bruise and should be able to dress on Friday against Lev.

Phew!

Translation by Fedor Fedin.