Nicklas Backstrom is on a scoring tear. With three goals and an assist in two games, the Swedish center is the Washington’s leading scorer in the postseason and currently tied for the most points in the entire NHL entering Sunday.
Alex Ovechkin, who is often the scorer to Backstrom’s setup man, provided the primary assist on Backstrom’s goal on Saturday.
Ovechkin joked about their role-reversal during his post-game interview.
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Ovechkin was asked about his assist on Backstrom’s goal.
“Well, when you play with Kuzy or Backy, you learn a lot. Right now, Backy is a scoring machine. I’m Backstrom,” said Ovechkin with a laugh.
Sure, Ovechkin probably meant that he is as happy to be assisting on goals as he is to be scoring them. But what if he is actually letting the cat out of the bag on some sort of Freaky Friday situation? What if Backstrom and Ovechkin opened magical fortune cookies and swapped places? What does the NHL rule book have to say about that?
Backstrom made no pronouncements about actually being Ovechkin, but he was asked about Ovechkin’s passing being overshadowed by his elite goalscoring.
“I think a lot of players out there expect him to shoot all the time,” Backstrom said. “So when he comes like that and dishes the puck, he creates so much room for the other guys. He’s not just a great goalscorer, he’s a great setup man too. That’s something he’s maybe flying little bit under the radar.”
In case you need a refresher on how good of a passer Ovechkin can be, let’s revisit that sweet, sweet dish to Backstrom on Saturday’s opening goal:
