Backstrom assisted on three of the team's five goals in Sunday's loss to the Coyotes. Backstrom is now up to 11 points in 11 games, right around his career average of just about a point per game. The assists will be there more frequently than the goals, but he should still end up around the 80 point mark.

Backstrom scored his first goal of the year in Thursday's 6-2 win over New Jersey. The Swedish centerman had picked up four assists over the season's first three games, but now he's joined the goal-scoring party too. It's quite reasonable to expect Backstrom to hover around a point per game this season, as he has throughout his career -- he's got 499 points in 499 NHL games.

Backstrom recorded two assists in Washington's 6-5 shootout loss to San Jose on Tuesday. Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin are clicking right off the bat, and with four assists in the first three games, Backstrom looks like he will be a solid pivot in all fantasy formats once again. Given he was being drafted towards the middle rounds, Backstrom owners may have a steal on their hands this season.

Backstrom is slated to once again open the season as the Capitals' top-line center. Though Backstrom's failed doping test during the past Winter Olympics was probably what most casual hockey observers remember about his 2013-14 campaign, the 26-year-old Swede made his greatest fantasy impact by quietly leading the league in power-play points (44) by a relatively sizable margin. He wasn't too shabby working at even strength next to Alex Ovechkin, either, allowing him to tally a cumulative 18 goals and 61 assists (79 points) over 82 games. While Backstrom's 101-point 2009-10 season will probably go down as the high-water mark of his career with his goal totals steadily declining since that time, he's still one of the league's more reliable centers in terms of production.

Nicklas Backstrom notched a goal and an assist in Friday's 4-0 blanking of Chicago. The playmaking center has 18 goals on the year and he's scored five times in his past seven outings. Backstrom has 79 points in 81 games this season.

Nicklas Backstrom scored twice in Washington's 4-1 win on Tuesday. Backstrom is on a three-game point streak. He has 17 goals and 77 points in 79 games this season.

Nicklas Backstrom doesn't expect to miss any more time after he was forced to leave Tuesday's game early with an upper-body injury. He was hurt on a hard hit from Los Angeles' Drew Doughty, but he was back on ice the ice for Thursday's practice. Backstrom feels fine to play against Boston on Saturday. "I didn't feel that good after that hit, had a day off and I feel way better today," Backstrom said. "I was able to practice full practice and that's a good thing."

Nicklas Backstrom didn't left Washington's 5-4 shootout loss against Los Angeles and didn't return. Backstrom sustained an upper-body injury when he was smashed into the glass by Los Angeles defenseman Drew Doughty. Capitals coach Adam Oates downplayed the decision to shutdown Backstrom as a "precautionary" move. Consider Backstrom day-to-day for now.

Nicklas Backstrom recorded two assists in Washington's 3-2 win Tuesday. Backstrom has recorded at least a point in three straight games and five of his last six contests. He now has 13 goals and 68 points in 70 games this season, making this his most productive campaign since 2009-10.

The IOC has decided that Nicklas Backstrom, who was barred from playing in the gold medal between Sweden and Canada in the 2014 Winter Olympics, will still receive his silver medal. Backstrom was punished for having an excess of pseudoephedrine in his system. That was due to the fact that he was taking the allergy medication Zyrtec-D, which the Swedish doctor had told him would be fine. He made no attempt to hide the fact that he was taking the medication (in fact, he declared it on his Doping Control Form) and the IOC ruled that there "no indication of any intent" on the part of Backstrom to use the medication for performance enhancing purposes. During the doctor's hearing, he took responsibility for giving Backstrom advice that led to him being removed from the gold medal game.