Backes snaps scoring drought with big game vs. Canadiens

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MONTREAL -- David Backes didn’t get rewarded on Friday night against the Penguins, when it appeared he had a goal that was subsequently taken away by NHL video review by the war room in Toronto.

Well, the hockey gods made sure things finally balanced out for the 34-year-old Backes, when he scored the game’s first goal in a Saturday night 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.

It was a no-doubter, Backes stealing a puck from hyped Montreal rookie Jesper Kotkaniemi at the Habs' blue line and then whistling a glove-side wrister past Carey Price to get the offense rolling for the Black and Gold.

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It was Backes’ first goal of the season in his 18th game of the year for the Black and Gold, where injuries and a slow start haven’t been kind to the veteran forward. Needless to say, he was pretty relieved to finally have the massive monkey off his back while clearly starting to play his best hockey of the season at a time when the B’s need it.

They certainly need it badly from a player in Backes that’s one of the few forwards on the B’s roster with size, strength and a snarl to his game that they desperately require.

“It was certainly baby steps on my way to the first one this season finding my skating game and getting my legs going. I feel like I’ve done that in the last couple of weeks and my linemates have allowed me to do that by playing in straight lines and getting in on the fore-check,” said Backes. “I hit a post in Colorado. I get one disallowed [against Pittsburgh] and now I get this one. So I’ve got that monkey off my back and hopefully we’ll continue to roll downhill after this.

“It was a quick play for me where I got the puck, I could see a hole and then I just shot it as hard as I could. It was a beautiful sight in my mind to see the puck go into the net off my stick. I had a little primal scream when I got back to the bench to finally get it out of me. It feels good to score, but I think the story is that it was a great team win today.”

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It was Backes again in the third period drawing a high-sticking call on Jonathan Drouin that led to the game-winner for John Moore and the B’s, and then winning battles in front on the PP for the ultimate Moore winner. That’s exactly what the Bruins want to see out of their power forward, and it’s clear to Bruce Cassidy that the B’s are starting to see the best that Backes has to offer.

“He needed it. There’s no doubt. He’s been close. For his own sake, a guy that’s scored in this league it starts to weigh on you. He’s admitted himself that he was squeezing the stick, so maybe it open the floodgates for him,” said Cassidy. “It was a tough one he took for the team where he was bleeding there. But it hurts to win. We tell our guys that all the time. If you win you probably have some bumps and bruises, and [Backes] certainly had that tonight as a big part of our win.”

It’s a good sign for the B’s that veterans like David Krejci and Backes are starting to find their games a couple of months into the season. Now it’s a matter of Backes to build on the first few steps out of the slump he’d been saddled with since the opening weeks of the season. 

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