Tuesday night, the Caps scored a goal against the Calgary Flames that the NHL credited as Kevin Shattenkirk’s first as a Washington Capital. We broke down the video like the Zapruder film and suggested that Nicklas Backstrom may have gotten a piece of it at the last second. Well, upon further review it seems the NHL is in agreement:
Please note NHL’s scoring change re #Caps third goal last night vs. Calgary. It should now read goal by Backstrom from Shattenkirk & Oshie
— CapitalsPR (@CapitalsPR) March 22, 2017
We’ll have to wait a little longer to see Shattenkirk’s first goal as a Washington Capital, but in the meantime we can bask in the glorious season that Backstrom is having.
Nick Backstrom was previously credited as having three assists during the game, but one of them was on the goal that is now his, so this scoring change reduces his career tally of three-assist games from 36 to 35. It also deprives Alex Ovechkin of an assist, bumping his night down to two points (1G, 1A) rather than three (1G, 2A).
Here is the video showing Backstrom just barely nudging the puck over the line with the force of a light breeze:
As of this writing, Backstrom sits at 78 points, with 56 assists and 22 goals. He sits fifth in the league in overall scoring and second in assists, firmly in the hunt for the Art Ross Trophy.
