WASHINGTON (AP) Nicklas Backstrom did so well on faceoffs with an injured hand he even surprised himself.”It’s the playoffs Adidas Julien Gauthier 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 Adidas Petr Mrazek Jersey , 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, 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 Adidas Calvin De Haan Jersey , 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, 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 Adidas Michael Ferland Jersey , 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,” Backstrom said. ”It feels nice to be back.”— WINNIPEG, Manitoba (AP) — Blake Wheeler was honest after the Winnipeg Jets‘ victory over Carolina.“I’m not going to pretend we’re firing on all cylinders right now, but we’re grinding,” Wheeler said.Bryan Little broke a tie with 2:09 left in the Jets’ 3-1 on Sunday night in the opener of a six-game homestand.“We knew going into the game that the puck wasn’t going to get moved well or easily Adidas Jordan Schroeder Jersey ,” Jets coach Paul Maurice. “That game wasn’t going to look like you would hope it would. It hasn’t for any of their opponents. Nobody’s beat them in regulation. They’re on fire right now. We had our challenges all night with them and still found a way to create some pretty good offence.”Patrick Laine opened the scoring for the Jets at 4:14 of the third period, and Kyle Connor added an empty-net goal with a second left. Backup goalie Laurent Brossoit stopped 42 shots for the victory, allowing only Micheal Ferland’s tying goal.Petr Mrazek made 23 saves for the Hurricanes. They dropped to 4-1-1.“We had some mistakes by our young guys tonight that cost us,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “At the end there, we didn’t quite get it out far enough. We always talk about we’re fighting for inches and we didn’t get it far enough. They come back and counter and it’s in the net. It’s a tough learning lesson for these young guys but we believe in them and we will move on for tomorrow.”After Laine one-timed a pass from Blake Wheeler on a power play to put the Jets ahead, Ferland poked home a shot from Dougie Hamilton that was drifting behind Brossoit. Little then slammed in the winner for his first goal of the season.“It’s a tough one, especially to lose that late in the game Adidas Chris Kunitz Jersey ,” Ferland said. “I thought we kept our foot on the gas the entire game, kept going at them and at them. Their goalie played really good. Our goalie played really good, too. I think we would have at least deserved a point there.”NOTES: Winnipeg put Marko Dano on waivers before the game. The 23-year-old forward hasn’t played for the Jets, his third NHL franchise, this season. He was a 2013 first-round draft pick by Columbus.UP NEXTHurricanes: At Tampa Bay on Tuesday night.Jets: Host Edmonton on Tuesday night.