A pile of assorted hats sat in Justin Williams’s locker room stall. There was a Washington Capitals beanie, a Baltimore Orioles cap and a camouflage lid. They had been tossed onto the ice at Verizon Center after Williams had scored his third goal Sunday night, displaying his knack for rising to the occasion even when not intending to.
Trying to clear the puck out of Washington’s zone after the New York Rangers pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker, Williams swatted the puck toward the opposite net. It caromed off the skate of New York’s Derick Brassard and into the net for Williams’s second career hat trick.