Peter Laviolette won’t break up Ovechkin-Kuznetsov tandem for Nicklas Backstrom

Laviolette won’t break up Ovi-Kuznetsov tandem for Backstrom originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom is nearing a return from the hip injury that’s sidelined him for the first two months of the 2021-22 NHL season. Once he does finally suit up for Washington, however, it won’t be in his usual spot alongside Alex Ovechkin on the first line.

Evgeny Kuznetsov has held down the top center spot in Backstrom’s absence and the results have been impressive. According to Left Wing Lock, Washington’s first line of Ovechkin, Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson has racked up 20 goals this season, tied with the Calgary Flames’ Matthew Tkachuk-Elias Lindholm-Johnny Gaudreau trio for the most goals scored by any line in the NHL this season.

Head coach Peter Laviolette joined 106.7 The Fan’s Sports Junkies on Wednesday morning and made clear he doesn’t want to mess with what’s working.

“The way that Kuznetsov and Ovechkin [are playing], I’m probably not going to break that up,” Laviolette said. “At this point for me, Kuznetsov and Ovechkin have been too strong the entire year. I think they’re one of the top duos and whoever’s been on that wing, whether it’s Wilson or [Aliaksei] Protas whoever it might be, I think it’s done really well.”

Instead, Backstrom will likely join wingers Conor Sheary and T.J. Oshie on the second line, bumping center Lars Eller down to the third line. Injuries and a series of COVID cases have forced the Capitals to rotate through myriad of lineups — particularly at center — while Backstrom has been out. The veteran’s return should give Washington some stability at the position.

In order to work him up to game speed, Laviolette has been pushing the Capitals to play with more energy at practice.

“We’ve had a couple of good practices, tough practices, where we were grinding and battling to try and tune our game up a little bit and get back on track but also knowing that it would be good for…