Backstrom back to being top point producer on caps

[germany00]

Brooks Laich rimmed the puck around the end boards to Nicklas Backstrom in the far right corner. Laich was anticipating that Backstrom would give the puck a little more oomph to keep its momentum going up to Dennis Wideman at the right point, giving the Capitals a chance to set up their power play again.

That was Laich's first mistake, and he knows it. There's simply no way to anticipate what Backstrom is going to do, especially this season.

Instead of making the play that both Laich and Wideman thought he would, Backstrom fooled everybody by whipping a no-look backhanded pass through a pair of Dallas penalty killers descending on him, setting up Alex Semin at the right hash marks for a one-timer that he blasted past Kari Lehtonen.

"That's Nicky Backstrom," Laich told NHL.com Friday morning after reenacting the play from Tuesday's game inside the visitor's dressing room at Prudential Center. "That's the type of play he is making."