Justin Williams creates yet another magical Game 7 moment as Hurricanes eliminate Capitals

For the first time since 2009, the Carolina Hurricanes have won a playoff series — with a familiar catalyst behind the series-clinching tally.

With his all-time best 15th career Game 7 point, Justin Williams threw the puck at the net before it was batted in by Brock McGinn to send the defending Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals packing with a 4-3 double overtime win.

This marks the fourth time in the last nine years that the defending champs have been knocked out in the first round — all of them in Game 7.

Williams, meanwhile, continues to grow his legend as a production machine when the games matter most. Not only are his 15 career points the most by any player in seventh games in NHL history, but his 9-1 win-loss record in those contests is nearly impossible to fathom.

Williams and the Canes will march on to face the New York Islanders in the second round, and nothing in this world seems to makes sense anymore.

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