When the Boston Bruins went out to grab forward David Backes in the offseason, many fans were skeptical. The Bruins organization was supposed to be embracing a youth movement. They had committed themselves to that. Then, they pulled a 180 on the fans and recruited a 32-year old to replace Loui Eriksson.
Backes went out on the ice on Thursday and silenced many of his critics. He scored the second and third goals for the Bruins in their 6-3 victory over Columbus. He was also able to find some instant chemistry with Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak while taking over for an injured Patrice Bergeron.