The Washington Capitals center began Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Vegas Golden Knights on a line with Jakub Vrana and T.J. Oshie, but quickly was bumped to the top line after center Evgeny Kuznetsov left the game with an upper-body injury early in the first period.
We all know the chemistry Backstrom and forward Alex Ovechkin have, so it was no surprise how effective they were, including Backstrom getting an assist on Ovechkin's power-play goal in the second period of an eventual 3-2 Capitals win that tied the best-of-7 series 1-1.
RELATED: [Complete Golden Knights vs. Capitals series coverage]
Game 3 is at Capital One Arena on Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).
Backstrom has been excellent despite playing with a hand injury, and has 19 points (five goals, 14 assists) in 17 playoff games.
And let's not forget center Lars Eller, who had three points (one goal, two assists), six hits and won 63 percent of his face-offs (10-of-16) in Game 2. It was his third three-point game of the playoffs, and he's one of only two Washington players with three three-point games (center Evgeny Kuznetsov is the other).