The Washington Capitals take on the Columbus Blue Jackets in a home game at Capital One Arena on Sunday (5 pm ET; NHL.tv; 11 pm ET). The important news in advance was announced by the Capitals on Saturday. the strikers Nicklas Backstrom and Tom Wilson are returning to the squad for the first time this season from injuries and will make their debut of the season. Both were taken off the injured list on Saturday.
Backstrom had surgery on his left hip over the summer break to fix problems that had prevented him from skating. He is only the second NHL player to return from such surgery, following Ed Jovanovski in 2014.
“I’m not going to put myself under any pressure,” Backstrom said this week. “All I can say is that I feel great and the most important thing for me is that I’m not in pain and I can skate and move the way I want. Hopefully that’s enough.”
Wilson had missed the first three months of the season after a cruciate ligament injury he sustained in last year’s playoffs. He had the best regular season of his career (24 goals, 28 assists in 78 games) when he injured his left knee after just three shifts in Game 1 of the Capitals’ first-round series against the Florida Panthers.