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WASHINGTON (AP) Nicklas Backstrom did so well on faceoffs with an injured hand he even surprised himself.”It’s the playoffs Youth Brandon Sutter Jersey ,” Backstrom said after the Washington Capitals‘ 4-2 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night that evened the Eastern Conference final at two games apiece. ”You’ve just got to grind. It felt good on the first couple faceoffs, so I just kept taking them.”Returning from a four-game absence with a right hand injury, Backstrom won six of nine faceoffs and looked more like himself as the night wore on. With Game 5 looming Saturday night at Tampa Bay, Backstrom’s improvement is one of the keys to Washington bouncing back from consecutive home losses.”I should get back to normal,” Backstrom said after playing 18:51 night in his return. ”I feel really good. I don’t know (how normal) exactly. If I didn’t feel good, I wouldn’t play. The doctors wouldn’t let me play, either.”Team doctors cleared Backstrom to play around lunchtime, and by pregame warmups he was drawing an ovation from fans thrilled to see him back in the lineup. The crowd roared when Backstrom won the faceoff on his first shift Brendan Leipsic Jersey Kids , and he got back into a rhythm centering the third line.”It was so fun to be back out there,” Backstrom said. ”It’s where everyone wants to be. You want to be on the ice. It’s just too bad we didn’t get the win.”A hard-luck loss included two penalties by fill-in No. 2 center Lars Eller, who has five in the past two games. Coach Barry Trotz didn’t mess with his top two lines, but Backstrom could easily be promoted to skate with Jakub Vrana and T.J. Oshie in Game 5.”We’re going to need him pushing forward, especially now that he has a game under him,” goaltender Braden Holtby said. ”He’ll take on more minutes and a bigger role. You could tell as the game went on he was getting more and more comfortable, so he’s going to be a much-needed asset for us in these next few games, for sure.”Backstrom appears ready to do that. The 30-year-old Swedish center hadn’t played since taking a slap shot from Pittsburgh’s Justin Schultz on May 5 http://www.officialcanucks.com/authentic-adidas-brock-boeser-jersey , but if it were up to him, he would have been back much sooner.”Nick has been champing at the bit for a while now,” said Trotz, lauding Backstrom’s game. ”We’ve been holding him back a little bit, but he’s ready to go.”Even on a team featuring Alex Ovechkin, the Capitals have gone how Backstrom has gone for the better part of a decade. He’s the second-longest-tenured player on the team, and this was his first career game in the conference finals.”As a hockey player, you want to play Christopher Tanev Jersey ,” Backstrom said. ”It feels nice to be back.”— LAS VEGAS (AP) Marc-Andre Fleury gave Blake Wheeler quite an earful.During a scrum behind Vegas’ net with 2:34 left in the second period of the Golden Knights‘ 4-2 victory over Winnipeg on Wednesday night, Fleury reached over with his left hand and tickled the left ear of the Jets‘ unsuspecting Blake Wheeler .”I did that?” said a playful Fleury, who also made 33 saves in the win. ”There’s cameras everywhere.”There sure are – and video of the ear tickle quickly became a big hit on social media.”I was just sitting there and people, they were fighting,” Fleury said, ”and (I was) trying to have a little smile by myself. That was it.”Wheeler, whose helmet was off and had his back to the goalie, somehow seemed unfazed by the Authentic Daniel Sedin Jersey , well, ”eary” feeling.The Jets forward, who was draped over the back of the net, didn’t even turn to look behind him to see who was responsible for the tickle as he continued yapping at Vegas players while getting himself back onto his skates.The Golden Knights lead the Western Conference final series 2-1, and host Game 4 on Friday night.Oh, and Wheeler might want to keep his ears clear of Fleury’s frolicking fingers.—