Last night the Washington Capitals finally ended their four-game losing streak, and their streak of futility in the second night of back-to-backs, by defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-0. Alex Ovechkin is getting a lot of attention for his two goals, as he should, but lost in all of the Ovechkin love is the crucial role that Nicklas Backstrom played.
Again.
Backstrom had a hand in both Ovechkin goals; he set up the first one by moving the puck to a wide open Karl Alzner (low-to-high, that’s how they score). But the real magic came on Ovechkin’s power-play goal. A lot of the talk after the goal was about how unstoppable Ovechkin’s shot is, even when you know it’s coming. That’s all true, but it overlooks the reason that his shot was so unstoppable in that situation.
Earlier in the game, and on plenty of other power plays, Ovechkin and the Caps were telegraphing that pass and allowing the goalie to get over to make a save. But Marc-Andre Fleury didn’t stand a chance on the one that eventually beat him, and it was all because of the passing.
First, the goal:
Beauty.
The NHL highlight picks up when Backstrom already has the puck, so you don’t get to see the whole dance he does with the penalty killer, Zach Sill… but we see enough. Backstrom sees that the penalty killer is trying to take away the pass to Mike Green, thereby (in theory) limiting him to one of two options: shoot or pass the puck down low. Nick is having none of it. He skates higher up the faceoff circle and towards the boards, presenting the penalty killer with a choice to either stay on top of Backstrom’s passing lane to Green, opening up the underside, or back off and leave some open ice between Backstrom and Green. Sill insists on taking away the passing lane, so Backstrom pushes him higher with his positioning and takes him out of position to cover underneath.
Once Sill slides to the top of the faceoff circle the hunt is over but the prey doesn’t realize it. Nick slides back towards the faceoff dot and has a wide-open lane to pass to Green underneath Sill’s stick. Backstrom literally manufactures that passing lane by reading the penalty killing coverage and manipulating the defender’s positioning.
A little sauce just to be sure, and now the Caps have Mike Green set up for a one-timer, or an open lane to the slot:
The Penguins are caught off guard by the pass up to Green, and the skaters scramble to take away Green’s shooting lane. Fleury aggressively steps to the top of the crease to challenge the shot, which Green fakes for good measure.
Everyone on the penalty kill is ready for Green to shoot, which means none of the five Penguins are paying attention to Ovechkin. A little slide of the puck from Green and Ovi basically has an empty net to fire the puck into (and let’s not undersell Green’s play there; I don’t think there’s another defenseman on the team that makes that play so smoothly).
Tic-tac-toe:
Somehow, Backstrom continues to fly under the radar, but in what figures to be a tight race for the Richard, Backstrom might be the biggest advantage Ovechkin has over his competition.