In what may have been his final game, Justin Williams was on the ice at the end
Justin Williams was on the ice during the final, frantic seconds as the Carolina Hurricanes desperately scrambled for a goal to tie the score and extend their season. Those may be the final moments of a long and distinguished career for a player who became known as Mr. Game 7 but is going home after Game 5 of this series.
Williams was not among the two players made available to the media from the NHL’s Toronto bubble, but he clearly agonized over whether to keep playing a year ago, relinquishing the captaincy and semi-retiring until he returned to action in January. It’s hard to imagine the 38-year-old wanting to go through that again, although the compressed offseason — the NHL hopes to start the 2020-21 season in December — may impact his decision.
But it’s more likely Wednesday’s 2-1 loss marked the end of a career that spanned 19 seasons, 20 years, 1,264 regular-season games, 162 playoff games — two full seasons’ worth! — and three Stanley Cups, including his first in 2006 with the Hurricanes on a team captained by Rod Brind’Amour.
“That’s tough. It’s tough,” now-Hurricanes coach Brind’Amour said. “He’s such a good person and ambassador for the game. If you ask me what it meant for me to have him being here, it meant everything — to have that leader, that friend to go to. I was new at this and everything I asked, he made sure the team did. He made my job really easy. I’m not sure what his plans are. You have to ask him. But I can’t say enough good things about Justin Williams.”
Williams had eight goals and three assists in his 20-game abbreviated season, productive enough for a player who jumped into the fray at midseason. He had one goal in seven playoff games.
Staal good
After much speculation, Jordan Staal and David Pastrnak were both in the lineup for Game 5. Petr Mrazek got the start in net for the Hurricanes.
Hurricanes captain Staal left Monday night’s loss after a hard hit by Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy, and his departure with the Hurricanes leading 2-1 was a key factor in their eventual 4-3 loss. Bruins winger Pastrnak, who tied for the NHL lead with 48 goals in the regular season, apparently injured himself celebrating the Bruins’ Game 1 game-winner and missed the next three games.
“Feeling much better,” Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy said Wednesday morning
Pastrnak went back onto his usual line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand and assisted on both Boston goals.
Early exits
The Hurricanes were one of four teams facing elimination with a loss on Wednesday, which was as much of a concern for the Bruins as it was for the Hurricanes.
“They want to come back and want to win the series so they’ve got to do that one game at a time,” Cassidy said. “I imagine they’ll be laser-focused today. Typically in these situations you’ve got to play your best game. I think the Islanders learned that last night.”
The Washington Capitals on Tuesday were only the fourth team in the bubble to win a game when facing elimination, beating the New York Islanders 3-2. The Hurricanes’ loss Wednesday made their collective record 4-10 — a .286 winning percentage, down from .422 historically.
Tailwinds
Andrei Svechnikov and Joel Edmundson both remained out for the Hurricanes. … Jaccob Slavin finished the series a team-worst minus-4 against the Bruins. … With his assist Wednesday, Sebastian Aho moved into a tie with Matt Cullen for eighth in franchise history in playoff scoring with 24 postseason points. ... The Hurricanes went 4-for-29 (13.8 percent) on the power play in the postseason. They converted at a 22.3 percent clip in the regular season.
This story was originally published August 19, 2020 at 2:39 PM.
