Nov. 2 vs. New York Islanders at Capital One Arena
Time: 7:00 p.m.
TV: MNMT
Radio: 106.7 The Fan, Capitals Radio 24/7
New York Islanders (4-2-2)
Washington Capitals (4-3-1)
The Caps kick off the November portion of their schedule and play the middle match of a five-game homestand on Thursday night at Capital One Arena when they host the New York Islanders. The Caps and Isles are meeting for the first of four times in Washington’s next 25 games. Washington and the Islanders will complete their four-game season’s series before the calendar flips to 2024.
Washington finished off October with three consecutive victories, and since downing San Jose here by a 3-1 count on Sunday afternoon, the Caps have conducted a pair of practices (on Monday and Wednesday) and enjoyed a day off (on Tuesday). Ahead of Wednesday morning’s practice, the Caps announced veteran center Nicklas Backstrom will be stepping away from the game for some time.
Prior to Wednesday’s practice, Backstrom addressed his teammates to inform them of his change in status; he’ll be placed on injured reserve. As you can imagine, Backstrom’s announcement and his words to his teammates cast a pall over the team’s practice. A fixture for the better part of two decades here in the District, Backstrom is quite simply one of the best players to ever pull on a Caps’ sweater, and he’s been an integral part of the fabric of the team since the first time he pulled on that sweater, just over 16 years ago.
Wednesday was a somber day at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, and for Caps Nation – which has grown exponentially since Backstrom’s arrival in town – as a whole.
“Everything,” replied Caps’ defenseman John Carlson, asked what Backstrom has meant to the organization over the years. “Yin and yang; he’s been a pillar here, pretty much since maybe his 15th game here. It’s incredible what he’s been able to accomplish.
“Speaking to what he means to me and my career on the ice, and the lessons that I’ve learned watching him, talking to him, picking his brain, it’s a lot of moments spent together. A lot of road trips, a lot of plane time, a lot of games, a lot of everything.
“It’s a long time we’ve been together, and I think that’s especially why I’m feeling it, and it feels weird. And that’s because I’ve never been here without him. It wasn’t just a walk in the park, you know?”
Carlson is in his 15th season in the League.
“He’s just so professional about how he conducts his business every single day,” says Caps’ coach Spencer Carbery of Backstrom. “How he works in practice, he doesn’t complain, he’s coachable, he wants information, shares stuff with his teammates. And our team is going to miss that, and I directly will miss that.”
There’s also the matter of leadership. Backstrom was never a “rah, rah!” type, but his competitive fire burned as strongly and as brightly as anyone’s in the game. In a recent conversation with Caps’ right wing T.J. Oshie for a completely different topic and story, he told us as much, unprompted.
“One of the better leaders I have ever played with as far as leading by example and not having to say a lot, and just showing people how it’s done and how to carry yourself,” was Oshie’s assessment of his longtime friend and teammate.
“I don’t think any one person can do that,” said Carbery, when asked who will step into that leadership void. “Like I told our group, we’re going to need more from everybody in a lot of different departments; leadership is one of them. Center man play is another one. There’s a ton of different things where we’re going to need different individuals to pick up the slack, coaches are going to need to do a better job. It just goes down the line, of trying to fill that void. We all have a hand in that – players, coaches, staff, management – and we’re all going to need to do a little bit more.”
Connor McMichael will step into Backstrom’s third-line center slot in the Washington lineup. From day one of training camp this year, both Carbery and Caps’ president and GM Brian MacLellan noted that McMichael would start the season on the left side, but that the team wanted to see McMichael at his natural center ice position, too. The Caps made sure that McMichael got a preseason game in at center, and he has seen the occasional shift at that position during games in the first month of the regular season as well.
McMichael took reps in the middle at both Caps’ practices this week, and he’s ready for the spotlight to be upon him.
“Center is my natural position that I’ve played most of my life,” says McMichael. “It’s cool and it’s exciting for me, and just having a little chat with Carbs, he expects more responsibility from me on the ice. He wants me to be kind of commanding that line and setting up the face-off plays.
“The positions are a little bit different, and [playing center] comes with more responsibility on the ice. But I think for the most part, I’m ready to do it and I think it’s going to come natural to me again.”
Everyone is obviously pulling for McMichael, and that certainly includes Backstrom as well. Having had the benefit of suiting up alongside and watching – and occasionally sharing the ice with – his star teammate for many of his own 83 games in the NHL, McMichael has been able to learn from one of the best of his era.
“Obviously, he is a legendary player,” says McMichael. “Ever since I was a young kid, I was watching him play for the Caps, and for Sweden in international tournaments.
“Coming here, it was really great to meet him, and I was star struck and what not, but he’s meant a lot to me, whether it’s giving me little tips or just talking to me every single day. He has been a great mentor for me, and honestly, this sucks to see. He’s had a great career and he means so much to this organization and all the guys in it as well. I wish him all the best.”
The Caps will need all the help they can get going into a difficult weekend against a pair of Metropolitan Division foes, starting with the Islanders on Thursday. As the November portion of the League slate opens on Wednesday with four games scheduled, the Caps find themselves a single point behind the Islanders and a single point ahead of Columbus, which supplies the opposition here on Saturday night.
New York won each of its first two games this season, yielding a total of two goals against in the process. Since then, the Isles are 2-2-2, and they’ve surrendered 21 goals against in those half dozen contests, one of which was a shutout victory.
Most recently, the Islanders dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to Detroit on Monday on Long Island. New York owned a 2-0 several minutes into the third period of that game, but it was dented for three goals against in less than four minutes midway through the third. A Bo Horvat power-play goal forced overtime, where Lucas Raymond won it for the Wings.
The Islanders have had a home-heavy schedule early on; their Thursday trip to Washington is a quick one-game journey; they’ll head back home for their next two games immediately after facing the Caps. The Isles are 1-1-0 in their previous two road games of ’23-24.
