Photo by clydeorama.

When Nicklas Backstrom got a standing ovation from the home crowd Thursday, it wasn’t for a slick assist to Alex Ovechkin or a wraparound goal of his own. It was because, with his stick shattered on the ice and his team down two men, Backstrom wasn’t afraid to use his body to block the puck, shot after shot, in front of the net.

It was a perfect snapshot of Backstrom’s relatively unsung durability as an NHL player. Though he fits in nicely centering the top line of a team that sports gaudy offensive stats, there’s one fact that sets him apart from nearly all his teammates: Backstrom’s never missed an NHL start in his career.

And in a sport where toughness makes you as attractive as Heidi Klum on the runway, Backstrom’s personal ironman streak is a thing of beauty.

“There’s different thought processes on tough players,” said Capitals assistant coach Dean Evason, who played 13 years in the NHL. “If they can fight, some guys think that they’re tough. But I think — and we think as a coaching staff — that Nicky’s one of the toughest guys that we’ve ever seen play. And what I mean by that, I just mean fighting through things, fighting through checks, fighting through little injuries, battling to play the game each and every night.”

And the 22-year old center, now in his third year in the NHL, does it all with a smile on his face.

“It just felt good,” Backstrom said of the barrage of pucks he blocked on Thursday night.