NHL teams
Pierre LeBrun, ESPN Senior Writer 8y

Justin Williams -- aka Mr. Game 7 -- is just the man to rally Caps

NHL, Washington Capitals, Pittsburgh Penguins

ARLINGTON, Va. -- This is the very moment for which the Washington Capitals pursued and signed Justin Williams last July 1.

For that moment in the playoffs when adversity once again stared the Capitals in the face, clouding their playoff path.

There he was Friday, oozing a calm confidence that a man with three Stanley Cup rings and a Conn Smythe Trophy on his resume could possess even with his team down 3-1 in their second-round series to the impressive Pittsburgh Penguins. Game 5 is Saturday, 7:15 p.m. ET, at the Verizon Center.

"Listen, it's a seven-game series for a reason," Williams told the assembled media after practice. "You have to win four. It doesn't matter how you get there. It's one game, it's one shift, it's one period, it's everything at a time. And slowly you will build momentum and create doubt in their team. We have plenty of confidence in here."

Well, Williams and Mike Richards have that confidence, having lifted Lord Stanley's mug before, having survived a playoff series two years ago with the Los Angeles Kings in which they lost their opening three games in the first round before storming back to win four straight en route to another championship.

"You need guys who can settle it down, who can take charge, who can say the right things,'' Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said on Friday. "Who can keep it loose instead of tight. And to back it up on the ice, too.

"Justin has done it. He has a good way about him. He's respected on our team, for sure, and throughout the league. He's been successful, and there's a reason he's been successful. He knows how to handle those situations.''

Just how much of that can rub off on the rest of the dressing room is one of sport's great mysteries. It's not like Williams will open up a can of magic powder before Game 5 and shower his teammates with championship sprinkles.

"If I go to Justin and say, 'Hey, can you say something to the group?' and this great light will come over him. It's not," smiled Caps head coach Barry Trotz on Friday. "I mean, I do trust the group and I trust the leaders like Justin -- guys who've been there.''

Then Trotz shared a story he had been told third-hand about when Williams was with the Kings.

"They were playing in the final," said Trotz. "I don't know if it was Game 6 or 7 -- but it was a clinching game -- and Justin just started chuckling when it got pretty tense. I don't know how true it is, but he said the right thing. Everybody looked at him, and he just said, 'I'm going to enjoy celebrating a Cup with you guys tonight.' Sometimes that's very powerful. It's not a big speech, but it's knowing the moment, I think.''

The moment has not gone well for Alex Ovechkin and the longtime Caps players of his era, who have not yet figured out how to navigate the labyrinth of the second round.

And now they're out of wiggle room, their season hanging in the balance, the narrative of the "same-old Caps'' is alive and well.

Not with Williams. There isn't an ounce of him that doesn't believe they can't come back.

"I think this time of year, it's the intangible qualities that brings the team together,'' he said. "The confidence that everyone can bring. The not-hanging-your-head attitude. The go-get-it. You have to err on the side of enthusiasm, not apprehension.''

Err on the side of enthusiasm, not apprehension.

Think about those words.

It means, as Williams has experienced in the past, that they must embrace the moment, the challenge, and get excited by it.

"Obviously you're professionals for a reason, and when your backs are against the wall, you're going to scrape and claw for everything you can," said Williams. "That's when you know the most about your team. When you learn about your character the most is when it's win or go home. And it's win or go home for us."

Besides, Stanley Cup champions rarely cake walk to glory. They get knocked around, but get up again.

"I think if you look at a lot of the last Stanley Cup champions, it's not all roses, it's not all being up in every series and being in the driver's seat,'' said Williams. "You have to push, you have to have some adversity and you have to find a way as a team to battle through it. And I know we can do it.''

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