Nicklas Backstrom is officially on the board this season. In his second regular-sseason game back with the SHL’s Brynäs IF, the Washington Capitals legend tallied two assists in his team’s wild 6-5 loss to Luleå HF on Tuesday. The points were his first in the SHL since he recorded 40 points (12g, 28a) for Brynäs during the 2006-07 season — a span of 18 years.
Brynäs has struggled to start the year, falling in two straight home games at Monitor ERP Arena by a combined 14-9 score. They raced out to a 4-0 lead against Luleå but collapsed in the second half, giving up five unanswered goals.
Backstrom’s first point in the loss came on the second goal of the game, a secondary assist on Jakob Silfverberg’s power-play strike. Operating at his typical half-wall position, Backstrom fed the puck down low to fellow former Capitals forward Johan Larsson, who quickly moved it to Silfverberg for a one-time blast.
The 37-year-old pivot collected his second point on another power play, providing the primary assist to defenseman Axel Andersson. The marker tied the game 5-5, but Luleå would score again just 2:29 later in the third period and add an empty-net goal to seal their victory.
Backstrom again centered Brynäs’ second line, flanked by wingers Oskar Lindblom and Kieffer Bellows. He skated 20:49 of ice time in the loss, the most among all Brynäs forwards, fired two shots on goal, and went 7 for 11 in the faceoff circle (63.6 percent).
The two-point performance comes after Backstrom completed an impressive preseason and entrance into Champions Hockey League play, notching two multi-point games and delivering a highlight-reel hit. He looked as spry as ever when participating in Brynäs’ warmup soccer game with a group that included former Capitals teammate Axel Jonsson-Fjallby.
Brynäs outshot Luleå 30-28 at the end of regulation, but got very poor goaltending from Collin Delia for the second-straight game. The former Chicago Blackhawks backstop has made just 28 saves on the first 39 shots of his SHL career.
Former Capitals defenseman Christian Djoos was recognized pregame by Brynäs for playing in his 200th game for the team. He posed for photos after being presented with a bouquet of flowers.
Brynäs’s next game is on September 18 against HV71.
Brynäs lineup on 9/16
Forwards
#18 Anton Rödin – #10 Johan Larsson – #33 Jakob Silfverberg
#23 Oskar Lindblom – #19 Nicklas Bäckström – #81 Kieffer Bellows
#52 Jack Kopacka – #36 Linus Ölund – #71 Axel Jonsson-Fjällby
#47 Lucas Pettersson – #20 Tyler Vesel – #41 Greg Scott
#17 Michal Svrcek
Defensemen
#24 Aaron Dahlqvist– #28 Johannes Kinnvall
#14 Robert Hägg – #29 Axel Andersson
#3 Christian Djoos – #27 Mattias Norlinder
#2 Victor Raftheim Hedin
Goaltenders
#61 Collin Delia
#45 Damian Clara
