Since they have both come into the league, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom have been one of the best 1-2 duos in the entire league. A perfect match, Backstrom has dazzled with his brilliant playmaking ability, setting up Ovechkin, who has become one of the most prolific goal scorers in NHL history.
Playing with Ovechkin exclusively, Backstrom was not called on to shoot the puck as much, hence limiting the amount of goals that he has scored throughout his career.
With the emergence of Evgeny Kuznetsov the last couple of years, the Capitals have experimented having both Russians play with each other.