from Alex Prewitt of Capitals Insider,

Watch the little plays, defenseman Karl Alzner explained, the kind that get swallowed by the larger context of games, but still stick out to those awestruck Washington Capitals watching from the bench. Watch how center Nicklas Backstorm breaks out on the power play. Or squeezes through traffic along the wall and continues forward, in full stride. Remember the one from Pittsburgh? No, not the game-winning assist to Joel Ward. Something far less memorable.

“See, that’s the thing,” Alzner said. “No one realizes it. He picked up the puck, quick dangled through someone, held the puck off, then just sauced right through the middle of the ice. It’s just plays like that, that, as players, you understand how hard they are. I can’t do it in practice, and he does it in games.”

The admiration inside the Capitals’ locker room for their alternate captain holds no limits, and Thursday night offered another chance for the respect to flow. On one end stood Backstrom, now tied for the NHL’s lead with 63 points, apologizing to reporters for taking too long to remove his shin guards and claiming such scoring was merely essential to the gig. After all, Backstrom said, he receives “a lot of ice time too, so I should produce for the team. Just doing my job.”

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