Washington Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom is in.
Backstrom was injured in Game Five of the Pittsburgh series and has not played since. He’s on the ice for the pregame skate, apparently skating on the third line, per Stephen Whyno.
Caps lines:
Ovechkin-Kuznetsov-Wilson
Vrana-Eller-Oshie
Stephenson-*Backstrom*-Connolly
Smith-Pelly-Beagle-Burakovsky
Looks like Nicklas Backstrom's back, replacing Alex Chiasson— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) May 17, 2018
Andre Burakovsky appears to have dropped to the fourth line.
Fans were happy to see him, as per this video from Tarik El-Bashir.
Backstrom got a warm welcome back from the fans… pic.twitter.com/KHBxTw4K7B
— Tarik El-Bashir⌨🎙🏒 (@TarikNBCS) May 17, 2018
Backstrom has three goals and 10 assists in 11 games this postseason.
— Tim Sievers (@T_Sievers7) May 17, 2018