It’s no surprise that Justin Williams, a player who earned the clutch nickname of “Mr. Game 7,” provided the money quote for the Pittsburgh Penguins’ wild 8-7 overtime win against the Washington Capitals.
“It snowballed too quickly for us,” Williams said, according to Caps’ website Dump n Chase. “All around, it was like a 1988 Smythe Division game out there, not something we want to do.”
Penguins-turned-Capitals defenseman Matt Niskanen also echoed one of the points from the game’s recap, stating that the contest had “four of five turning points.”
You could probably spend hours pouring through all the oddball stats that sprouted up from this game.
Matt Murray is first goalie to play a full game, give up seven goals and earn the win since Dominic Roussel in 1994. https://t.co/sMioz9yxlo
— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) January 17, 2017
While Williams and Niskanen provided some of the better quotes, most of the players were reduced to using the same word that, frankly, most of us were rolling out.
The word "Weird" is being used in the #Caps room to describe this game. Yes. Yes, it was. #Pens
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) January 17, 2017
(Aside from those of us who were spouting expletives at perceived missed calls, particularly on the losing end.)
In admitting that he couldn’t explain the second period, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan probably described the entire game most accurately:
Coach Sullivan: "That 2nd period was one of the craziest periods I've ever been associated with. I don't know how to assess it."
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 17, 2017
Either way, it was a lot of fun. Let’s do this in the playoffs, too, shall we?
/scans online for a budget defibrillator.