Justin Williams knows a thing or two about big moments in the playoffs.
The man known as "Mr. Game 7" was brought to Washington to get the Capitals over the hump. But here they are, once again, the class of the regular season and out after the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, ousted in six games by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Penguins are a phenomenal team, make no mistake, and they're peaking at the right time. And in Williams' view, they were the side that did what had to be done when it needed to be done.
"We didn't own the big moments," Williams said, according to NHL.com's Tom Gulitti. "The margin of error is very small in this league, and they owned the big one (Tuesday night)."
Nick Bonino owned it. He scored the overtime winner to end the Capitals' season.
Williams stuck up for his captain, Alex Ovechkin, who is going to receive the brunt of criticism for another spring failure. But Williams knows the playoffs are about far more than one player.
"It's about us as a team not being quite good enough."
Not when it mattered, at least. The worst part of it all: Williams didn't even get to play in a Game 7 with the Capitals.
Maybe next year - the words every Washington hockey fan is probably sick to death of hearing.
