In his post-game column following last night's Caps win over the Penguins, ESPN's Scott Burnside noted that Nicklas Backstrom's "left hand [was] still smarting from a Kris Letang slash." Backstrom took exception to the stickwork at the time, and for good reason - it appears as if Letang's whack injured the Caps pivot. Per Aftonbladet:
The cause of the injury was a slash from Kris Letang that the referees didn't blow the whistle for. After the game the X-Ray showed a fracture in the thumb.
[Backstrom:] "Yes there is a little fracture. It's too bad that it happened but I don't think it feels that bad."
If the young Swede ... will have to watch from the sideline's is unclear at the moment.
"I don't know I think I'm day-to-day and right now. I feel ok, but we have to wait and see how it feels in the next couple of days."
"It feels damn good to beat them but we won four out of four two years ago and they still beat us in the playoffs that year. So in the big picture this could mean nothing."
Backstrom, who finished the game, hasn't yet missed a match in his NHL career and the Caps can ill-afford to lose him now, especially given the team's lack of depth down the middle.