Bad News on Nicklas Backstrom

As first reported by Matt Perl, a DC marketing executive who used to produce for MASN, Nicklas Backstrom was seen today in downtown DC leaving a doctors office with a hard cast on his hand and thumb area.  This would explain Backstrom's absence from practice today, and is obviously a very ominous sign for his status for tomorrow's game with the Edmonton Oilers at Verizon Center.  Backstrom originally left last night's game with a little time left in the second period after supposedly aggravating his broken thumb, but coach Bruce Boudreau said after the game that he "wanted to come back" and he "should be fine."  Apparently not.
I have said it before - the prolonged loss of Nicklas Backstrom is not something that the Capitals can afford to any degree.  By far their best center, despite the lack of scoring by his standards, he is still irreplaceable and his absence would be a huge hurdle for them to climb.  One small positive - Mathieu Perrault, who would be the obvious choice to be called up if Backstrom was sidelined for an extended period, is in the lineup tonight for the Hershey Bears, seemingly indicating that a recall is not imminent.  So, there's that, but at this point, it looks like Backstrom may be out of the Washington lineup for at least the next week, if not longer.  Again, this is all speculation in terms of how much time he will miss, and there has yet to be an official release, but a hard cast is a pretty hard thing to overcome when playing in an NHL game. More on this if it becomes available tonight and into the morning.