Tag: Justin Williams

  • Breaking News: Justin Williams Taking Time Off – Not Expected to Start the Season

    Breaking News: Justin Williams Taking Time Off – Not Expected to Start the Season

    In shocking news today Carolina Hurricanes captain announced that he will not be joining the team for the start of the 2019-20 season and will be taking a break from hockey instead.

     

    This news comes at a time when all teams are starting to gear up for Training Camp to prepare for the upcaming season. In a statement releaed by the Hurricanes, Williams had the following to say:

    “This is the first time in my life that I’ve felt unsure of my aspirations with regards to hockey. For as long as I can remember, my whole off-season until this point has been hockey and doing what was necessary to prepare for the upcoming season. Because of my current indecision, and without the type of mental and physical commitment that I’m accustomed to having, I’ve decided to step away from the game.

    “It’s important to me that the focus of attention is on the current, very talented group the Carolina Hurricanes have assembled, as they prepare to build on the momentum and growth we established last season.”

     

    Williams, who is 37 years old, has played in 1244 career NHL games with the Hurricanes, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings, and Washington Capitals. Williams is also a three time Stanley Cup Champion with Carolina (2006) and with Los Angeles (2012 and 2014), and won the Conn Smythe in 2014. Williams also recorded 312 goals, 474 assists for 786 points in his NHL career.

     

    Of the decision, Hurricanes President and General Manager had the following to say:

    “We appreciate Justin’s honesty and openness throughout this process, and respect his decision.He’s been an important part of our team, but we did prepare our roster with the understanding that he might step away. We are confident in the group we’ve assembled.”

     

    Only time will tell in regards to what Williams will ultimately decide to do, but whatever he chooses to do he knows it will be right in his heart.

  • ECF Game 2 – Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

    ECF Game 2 – Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

    Carolina Hurricanes v. Boston Bruins

    Game 2 – BOS Leads 1-0

     

    Game Recap:

    Coming into Game 2 this afternoon the Carolina Hurricanes look to tie the series at one and take away the home ice advantage from the Boston Bruins. The first half of the period saw the tempo change hands between the two teams, and we alao saw a Hurricanes powerplay that did not generate much offense. Then in the last five minutes of the period Matt Grzelcyk would get one through Petr Mrazek and just over the goal line to score the first goal of the game. The Bruins would not be done there as they would get a late powerplay opportunity and would need only six seconds as Jake DeBrusk would knock in her own rebound and give the Bruins a 2-0 lead going into the first intermission.

     

    Going into the second period the Bruins would get themselves into penalty trouble as Patrice Bergeron would take a tripping penalty, but the Hurricanes would squander their opportunity and moments later the Bruins would capitalize as Marcus Johansson would exhibit great patience as he feeds Connor Clifton with the pass for Clifton to bury the puck into a wide open net for his first career playoff goal. Then late in the second period Matt Grzelcyk would strike again, this time on the powerplay to give the Bruins a 4-0 lead going into the second intermission.

     

    Going into the third period the Hurricanes would stick with Petr Mrazek between the pipes, but the Bruins would continue their assault as David Backes would score 70 seconds into the period. Then after killing off their second Patrice Bergeron tripping penalty of the game, it would be Bergeron out of the box and setting up Danton Heinen to make it a commanding 6-0 lead. The Hurricanes would eventually end Tuukka Rask’s shutout bid when Justin Williams would deflect a Justin Faulk poimt shot to make it 6-1. Then the Hurricanes would build on that as they would catch Tuukka Rask cheating to play the puck as he would accidently shoot the puck into Teuvo Teravainen who would shoot it into the wide open net to make it 6-2, but it would be to little too late as the Bruins take Game 2 and the 2-0 series lead.

     

    Lineups:

    Carolina Hurricanes:

    Andrei Svechnikov — Sebastian Aho – Teuvo Teravainen

    Nino Niederreiter — Jordan Staal — Justin Williams

    Warren Foegele – Lucas Wallmark — Brock McGinn

    Jordan Martinook — Greg McKegg — Micheal Ferland

    Jaccob Slavin — Dougie Hamilton

    Brett Pesce — Justin Faulk

    Haydn Fleury — Calvin de Haan

    Petr Mrazek

    Curtis McElhinney

    Scratched: Jake Bean, Patrick Brown

    Injured: Saku Maenalanen (upper body), Trevor van Riemsdyk (left shoulder)

     

    Boston Bruins:

    Brad Marchand — Patrice Bergeron — David Pastrnak

    Jake DeBrusk — David Krejci — David Backes

    Marcus Johansson — Charlie Coyle — Danton Heinen

    Joakim Nordstrom — Sean Kuraly — Chris Wagner

    Zdeno Chara — Charlie McAvoy

    Torey Krug — Brandon Carlo

    Matt Grzelcyk — Connor Clifton

    Tuukka Rask

    Jaroslav Halak

    Scratched: Steven Kampfer, Karson Kuhlman, John Moore

    Injured: Kevan Miller (lower body), Noel Acciari (upper body)

     

    First Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 11:56 – Zdeno Chara 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins Goal – 15:22 – Matt Grzelcyk (2) from Marcus Johansson (5) and Charlie Coyle (4)

    Hurricanes Penalty – 18:26 – Justin Williams 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins PPG – 18:32 – Jake DeBrusk (3) from David Pastrnak (6) and Torey Krug (8)

     

    End of 1st – CAR – 0       BOS – 2

    Shots              06                11

    Faceoffs         08                13

    Hits               14                  20

    PP                 0/1                 1/1

     

    Second Period:

    Bruins Penalty – 1:09 – Patric Bergeron 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins Goal – 3:46 – Connor Clifton (1) from Marcus Johansson (6) and Danton Heinen (5)

    Bruins Penalty – 13:36 – Chris Wagner 2 minutes for Holding

    Hurricanes Penalty – 16:07 – Justin Williams 2 minutes for Holding

    Bruins PPG – 17:56 – Matt Grzelcyk (3) from Charlie Coyle (5) and Torey Krug (9)

     

    End of 2nd – CAR – 0        BOS – 4

    Shots               17                 21

    Faceoffs          18                 21

    Hits                 26                  27

    PP                   0/3                  2/2

     

    Third Period:

    Bruins Goal – 1:10 – David Backes (2) from David Krejci (8) and Torey Krug (10)

    Bruins Penalty – 2:22 – Patrice Bergeron 2 minutes for Tripping

    Bruins Goal – 4:32 – Danton Heinen (2) from Patrice Bergeron (4) and Charlie Coyle (6)

    Hurricanes Goal – 11:17 – Justin Williams (4) from Justin Faulk (6) and Sebastian Aho (6)

    Hurricanes Goal – 17:32 – Teuvo Teravainen (7) from unassisted

     

    End of 3rd – CAR – 2         BOS – 6

    Shots              23                   25

    Faceoffs        22                    31

    Hits               27                     35

    PP                 0/4                    2/2

     

    Next Up:

    Game 3  – Boston Leads 2-0

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • Round 2 Game 4 Recap – New York Islanders v. Carolina Hurricanes

    Round 2 Game 4 Recap – New York Islanders v. Carolina Hurricanes

    New York Islanders v. Carolina Hurricanes

    Game 4 – CAR Leads 3-0

     

    Game Recap:

    Heading into Game 4 the Carolina Hurricanes look to complete the sweep at home as they take on a desparate New York Islanders team trying to remain alive. The Islanders would get an early break as Andrei Svechnikov would take an early high sticking penalty that would lead to a Mathew Barzal powerplay goal for quick 1-0 lead two and a half minutes into the game. However, the Hurricanes would respond on a powerplay of their own as Sebastian Aho would jam it in past Robin Lehner to tie the game at one.

     

    Going into the second period it would be the Hurricanes unleashing a storm early on as Warren Foegele, Sebastian Aho, and Teuvo Teravainen would connect on a tic, tac, toe play as Teravainen scores his sixth of the playoffs. Then Greg McKegg knocks in a loose puck in the slot area to make it 3-1 for the Hurricanes and chase Robin Lehner out of the crease and put in Thomas Greiss for the Islanders. Then after killing a Brock McGinn penalty, Jordan Staal would throw the puck into the slot area and Justin Williams would bat it out of mid air and past Greiss to make it 4-1.

     

    Coming into the third period the Hurricanes would choke up this game and kill the clock, and then Andrei Svechnikov would score his third of the playoffs to give the Hurricanes a commanding 5-1 lead. Brock Nelson would score, but it would be too little, too late as the Hurricanes would go on to defeat the islanders 5-2 to sweep the 2nd round series 4 games to none.

     

    Lineups:

    New York Islanders:

    Anders Lee — Mathew Barzal — Jordan Eberle

    Josh Bailey — Brock Nelson — Tom Kuhnhackl

    Anthony Beauvillier — Valtteri Filppula — Leo Komarov

    Matt Martin — Casey Cizikas — Cal Clutterbuck

    Nick Leddy — Thomas Hickey

    Adam Pelech — Ryan Pulock

    Devon Toews — Scott Mayfield

    Robin Lehner

    Thomas Greiss

    Scratched: Luca Sbisa, Dennis Seidenberg, Michael Dal Colle, Ross Johnston

    Injured: Johnny Boychuk (lower body), Tanner Fritz (hand), Andrew Ladd (torn ACL)

     

    Carolina Hurricanes:

    Warren Foegele — Sebastian Aho — Justin Williams

    Nino Niederreiter — Jordan Staal — Teuvo Teravainen

    Andrei Svechnikov — Lucas Wallmark — Brock McGinn

    Jordan Martinook — Greg McKegg — Patrick Brown

    Jaccob Slavin — Dougie Hamilton

    Brett Pesce — Justin Faulk

    Calvin de Haan — Haydn Fleury

    Curtis McElhinney

    Alex Nedeljkovic

    Scratched: Jake Bean, Clark Bishop

    Injured: Petr Mrazek (lower body), Trevor van Riemsdyk (upper body), Saku Maenalanen(upper body), Micheal Ferland (upper body)

     

    First Period:

    Hurricanes Penalty – 1:13 – Andrei Svechnikov 2 minutes for High Sticking

    Islanders PPG – 2:30 – Mathew Barzal (2) from Devom Toews (3) and Jordan Eberle (5)

    Islanders Penalty – 4:02 – Leo Komarov 2 minutes for Roughing

    Hurricanes PPG – 4:44 – Sebastian Aho (4) from Teuvo Teravainen (3) and Justin Faulk (4)

    Hurricanes Penalty – 6:33 – Jordan Martinook 2 minutes for Unsportsmanlike Conduct

    Islanders Penalty – 6:33 – Scott Mayfield 2 minutes for Tripping

     

    End of 1st – NYI – 1       CAR – 1

    Shots              10                05

    Faceoffs         06                08

    Hits               16                  14

    PP                 1/1                 1/1

     

    Second Period:

    Hurricanes Goal – 2:11 – Teuvo Teravainen (6) from Warren Foegele (4) and Sebastian Aho (5)

    Hurricanes Goal – 3:17 – Greg McKegg (1) from Brett Pesce (6) and Jordan Martinook (3)

    Hurricanes Penalty – 5:38 – Brock McGinn 2 minutes for High Sticking

    Hurricanes Goal – 8:51 – Justin Williams (3) from Jordan Staal (5) and Nino Niederreiter (3)

    Islanders Penalty – 9:54 – Scott Mayfield 2 minutes for Interference

    Hurricanes Penalty – 14:47 – Nino Niederreiter 2 minutes for Slashing

    Islanders Penalty – 17:40 – Casey Czikas 2 minutes for Hooking

     

    End of 2nd – NYI – 1        CAR – 4

    Shots               16                 17

    Faceoffs          15                 14

    Hits                 25                  20

    PP                   1/3                  1/3

     

    Third Period:

    Islanders Penalty – 5:02 – Leo Komarov 2 minutes for High Sticking

    Hurricanes Goal – 15:13 – Andrei Svechnikov (3) from Justin Faulk (5)

    Islanders Goal – 18:51 – Brock Nelson (4) from Scott Mayfield (2) and Devon Toews (4)

     

    End of 3rd – NYI – 2         CAR – 5

    Shots              28                   21

    Faceoffs        23                    24

    Hits               33                     28

    PP                 1/3                    1/4

     

    Next Up:

    Carolina v. Boston/Columbus – Game 1 Eastern Conference Finals

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.

  • Game Recap – 1st Rd. Game 7 – Carolina Hurricanes v. Washington Capitals

    Game Recap – 1st Rd. Game 7 – Carolina Hurricanes v. Washington Capitals

    Carolina Hurricanes v. Washington Capitals

    Series Tied 3-3

     

    Game Recap:

    Heading into the dreaded Game 7, both the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes head into Capital One Arena looking to finish the series with win, and move on to face the idle New York Islanders. To start the game the Capitals would force the play in the Hurricanes which would see Andre Burakovsky forc2 Brett Pesce to cough up the puck and Burakovsky would skate into the slot and rip the puck past Petr Mrazek to make it 1-0 less than three minutes into the game. Then it would be a highly motivated Alex Ovechkin undressing Dougie Hamilton while entering the zone, and Ovechkin would then feed Tom Wilson who would one time it past Mrazek to make it 2-0.

     

    Going into the second period both teams looked to swing the momentum their way, and for a good portion of the period the Capitals would force the play, however, while on the lone powerplay the Capitals would cough it up and Sebastian Aho would get it past Braden Holtby to cut the lead to one. But the Capitals would get their two goal lead back as Evgeny Kuznetsov and Carl Hagelin would team up to give Kuznetsov his first goal of the playoffs, but that too would be short lived as Teuvo Teravainen would get the loose puck in the slot and rip it past Holtby to make it 3-2 Capitals going into the second intermission.

     

    Heading into the third period it would be the Hurricanes buildimg upom the momentum they gained in the second period as less than three minutes into the third frame Jordan Staal would streak down the wing and let go of a beautiful wrist shot past Holtby to tie the game at three. After a lot of back and forth in thebperiod, the game would remained tied after 60 minutes of play.

     

    In the first overtime period of the game it would be all Hurricanes as they dictated the pace of the period and held the Capitals without a shot through the first half of the overtime period. However, the Capitals would escape the first overtime period.

     

    Then in double overtime the Hurricanes would continue their dominant play against the Capitals, and after killing a delay of game penalty it would be Mr. Game 7 himself Justin Williams throwing it on net where Brock McGinn would tip it in past Holtby to win the game and the series 4-3.

     

    Lineups:

    Carolina Hurricanes:

    Nino Niederreiter — Sebastian Aho — Teuvo Teravainen

    Brock McGinn — Jordan Staal — Justin Williams

    Warren Foegele — Lucas Wallmark — Jordan Martinook

    Saku Maenalanen — Greg McKegg — Patrick Brown

    Jaccob Slavin — Dougie Hamilton

    Brett Pesce — Justin Faulk

    Calvin de Haan — Trevor van Riemsdyk

    Petr Mrazek

    Curtis McElhinney

    Scratched: Haydn Fleury

    Injured: Andrei Svechnikov (concussion), Micheal Ferland (upper body)

     

    Washington Capitals:

    Alex Ovechkin — Nicklas Backstrom — Tom Wilson

    Carl Hagelin — Evgeny Kuznetsov — Jakub Vrana

    Andre Burakovsky — Lars Eller — Brett Connolly

    Chandler Stephenson — Nic Dowd — Devante Smith-Pelly

    Jonas Siegenthaler — John Carlson

    Dmitry Orlov — Matt Niskanen

    Brooks Orpik — Nick Jensen

    Braden Holtby

    Pheonix Copley

    Scratched: Christian Djoos, Travis Boyd, Dmitrij Jaskin, Parker Milner

    Injured: Michal Kempny (torn left hamstring), T.J. Oshie (upper body)

     

    First Period:

    Capitals Goal – 2:13 – Andre Burakovsky (1) from unassisted

    Capitals Goal – 6:23 – Tom Wilson (3) from Alex Ovechkin (5) and Dmitry Orlov (3)

    Hurricanes Penalty – 13:39 – Greg McKegg 2 minutes for Hooking

    Capitals Penalty – 16:58 – Nicklas Backstrom 2 minutes for Interference

     

    End of 1st – CAR – 0       WAS – 2

    Shots              11                10

    Faceoffs         12                17

    Hits               15                  10

    PP                 0/1                 0/1

     

    Second Period:

    Hurricanes Penalty – 8:35 – Jordan Martinook 2 minutes for Tripping

    Hurricanes SHG – 9:51 – Sebastian Aho (2) from Brett Pesce (2) and Jaccob Slavin (7)

    Capitals Goal – 13:22 – Evgeny Kuznetsov (1) from Carl Hagelin (1)

    Hurricanes Goal – 16:37 – Teuvo Teravainen (3) from Brett Pesce (3) and Brock McGinn (3)

     

    End of 2nd – CAR – 2        WAS – 3

    Shots               19                 19

    Faceoffs          18                 27

    Hits                 30                  21

    PP                   0/1                  0/2

     

    Third Period:

    Hurricanes Goal – 2:56 – Jordan Staal (3) from Jaccob Slavin (8)

     

    End of 3rd – CAR – 3         WAS – 3

    Shots              24                   31

    Faceoffs        22                    31

    Hits               42                     29

    PP                 0/1                    0/2

     

    Overtime:

    N/A

     

    End of OT – CAR – 3         WAS – 3

    Shots              35                   35

    Faceoffs        30                    45

    Hits               51                     40

    PP                 0/1                    0/2

     

    Double Overtime:

    Hurricanes Penalty – 2:02 – Saku Maenalanen 2 minutes for Delay of Game

    Hurricanes Goal – 11:05 – Brock McGinn (2) from Justin Williams (3) and Jaccob Slavin (9)

     

    End of 2OT – CAR – 4         WAS – 3

    Shots              42                   37

    Faceoffs        33                    47

    Hits               60                     43

    PP                 0/1                    0/3

     

    Next Up:

    Carolina Wins Series 4-3

    2nd Round v. NY Islanders

     

    Make sure to follow TXHT’s extensive Playoffs coverage on our 2019 NHL Playoffs page.