In a battle of the Central Division last night, St. Louis Blues captain David Backes channeled his inner Alexander Ovechkin and scored an awesome goal from on his back to help propel the Blues to a 3-1 victory.
Backes, who has 22 points in 36 games this season, drives the net hard on the play. When a centering pass comes his way from the right wing, Backes tries to put on the brakes and get a shot on net, but ends up losing an edge and falling instead. From his back while laying on the ice, Backes then reaches above his head with his stick and blindly bats the puck toward the net. It slips between the legs of Columbus netminder Sergei Bobrovski, who the team acquired Wednesday at the trade deadline, giving St. Louis the go ahead goal and the eventual game winner.
The victory keeps St. Louis in contention as they now hold the 8th seed in the Western conference, but was a huge blow to the playoff hopes of the Blue Jackets, who hold the 10th spot in the West and are three points behind the Blues. The two teams will meet one more time on Friday, April 12 in Columbus in what could prove to be a pivotal game as each team looks to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Check out video of Backes’ game-winning goal below.