Caps to wear No. 19 jerseys before Backstrom’s 1,000th game originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
The Capitals will celebrate center Nicklas Backstrom’s 1,000th career game Thursday by wearing No. 19 jerseys during warmups ahead of their contest against the Buffalo Sabres.
Backstrom, 33, is set to join teammate Alex Ovechkin as the only players in franchise history to play 1,000 games in a Capitals uniform. The 2006 No. 4 overall pick will be honored by the team with a pregame ceremony on the ice attended by General Manager Brian MacLellan and Backstrom’s family.
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At 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, the Capitals and Monumental Sports will kick off an auction featuring the warmup jerseys, with proceeds going to Kid Power, Inc. and the Washington Capitals Capital Impact Fund. All jerseys will be autographed by the player that wore them.
Backstrom will begin Thursday’s game with 257 goals, 714 assists and a lifetime faceoff percentage of 50.2%. He’s one of just three players with 30 assists each of the last 14 years.
