For most of the last decade, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom have been running mates and good ones. Dangerous individually, together they complement each other beautifully. Backstrom brings defensive savvy and playmaking vision, with the former quality allowing him to offset Ovechkin’s deficiencies and the latter enabling him to maximize his teammate’s tremendous talents. Ovechkin, the game’s best winger, needs no introduction; he’s jelled with Backstrom over the years and played his best hockey alongside Washington’s top centre.
It was a beautiful partnership, but for the time being at least it appears to be at an end. And while the duo played some marvelous hockey together, in the early going it appears that Ovechkin, Backstrom and the Capitals are all better off for the separation.
As it often is, necessity was the mother of invention here. Backstrom had surgery on his hip in May, and head coach Barry Trotz told the Washington Post’s Isabelle Khurshudyan at the start of October that the Caps’ No. 1 centre would not be available to begin the season.
“He won ...
Read Full Article at Bleacher Report - NHL
Article written by Jonathan Willis
Are Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom Better off on Separate Lines?
October 29th, 2015 by Jonathan Willis Leave a reply »
Advertisement