The Capitals lead the best-of-7 series 3-2 and can advance to face the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference Second Round with a win in Game 6 at Air Canada Centre on Sunday (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, SN, TVA Sports, CSN-DC).
"These are big moments," Williams said. "To win a championship you need to relish these moments and you need to come up big in these moments."
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Williams, who won the Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006 and with the Los Angeles Kings in 2012 and 2014, has been talking about these moments since the Capitals didn't come through in enough of them in losing to the Penguins in six games in the Eastern Conference Second Round last season. After the Maple Leafs won Games 2 and 3 in overtime, it appeared it might be happening again.
But the Capitals were able to hang on for a 5-4 win in Game 4 on Wednesday in Toronto and battled through a tighter-checking, sometimes-chippy game on Friday. After giving up four goals in three straight games, Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby was a big part of the win, with 24 saves.
Auston Matthews' rebound goal, which tied the game at 1-1 6:00 into the second period, was the lone shot to elude Holtby, who looked a lot more like a reigning Vezina Trophy winner than in the past three games.