SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Mr. Game 7 became Mr. Game 1 for the Kings Wednesday night.
Justin Williams, who has developed a reputation for delivering huge goals at crucial times, received a pass from Mike Richards in the slot and fired home the game-winner past Henrik Lundqvist 4:36 into overtime to give the Kings a 3-2 victory in the opening game of these Stanley Cup finals.
“I’ve said this many times: Justin is the most underrated player on our team by a mile,” said Kings defenseman Drew Doughty, who scored the game-tying goal in the second period. “He doesn’t get enough credit for what he does.”
All Williams seems to do in crucial playoff games is score huge goals. After picking up a goal and an assist in the Kings’ 5-4 overtime win over the Blackhawks in Game 7 of the Western Conference finals Sunday night, the 32-year-old forward now has seven goals and seven assists to go with a perfect 7-0 record in Game 7s in his career, and helped the Kings move one win closer to lifting the Stanley Cup for the second time in three seasons with his overtime winner against the Rangers.
The goal came after Dan Girardi lost his footing in his defensive zone, and his clearing attempt landed on the stick of Richards just inside the blue line to keep it in the offensive zone. The Kings forward then calmly hit Williams with a pass and Williams, true to form, didn’t waste the opportunity.
“I was sitting in front of the net with the puck,” Williams said, “I was able to make a shot.”
Like Williams has made a habit of scoring timely goals for the Kings, the team as a whole has managed to overcome two-goal deficits multiple times during this playoff run, including in Game 7 against the Blackhawks and, now, Game 1 against the Rangers.
Though Williams said he was happy to come away with a win Wednesday, he said he knows the Kings have been playing a dangerous game by falling behind early, one they can’t afford to have continue.
“Well, it certainly helps that we’ve done it time and time again,” Williams said. “I mean, it’s a great result of the hockey game for us, definitely, but we have a lot of things to clean up. [It was] certainly not our best game by any standards, especially ours.
“But we were able to get it done. … That’s the most important thing.”
They did so thanks to the latest clutch goal from their reliably clutch forward.