Kings’ Justin Williams Making a Strong Conn Smythe Case with Clutch Play

Talk all you want about Drew Doughty as the likely winner of the Conn Smythe Trophy. It’s well-deserved. He’s been as incredible as they come in these playoffs, and his game-tying goal in Game 1 of the 2014 Stanley Cup Final was a highlight playoff MVP campaign enthusiasts could market to anyone.

But Doughty wants to talk about Justin Williams, the guy who set him up for that goal and then went on to score the overtime winner to give the Los Angeles Kings first blood in their series against the New York Rangers.

And, frankly, so should the people on the Conn Smythe voting committee. 

"I've said this many times—Justin is the most underrated player on our team, by a mile," Doughty said at the podium while sitting beside Williams after the game, via Dan Rosen of NHL.com. 

Williams isn’t a guy often picked in the first few rounds of your playoff pools. There are at least a handful of teammates talked about more frequently, with Doughty, Anze Kopitar, Marian Gaborik, Jeff Carter and Jonathan Quick spending more time in the spotlight.



"He doesn't get enough credit for what he does,” Doughty continued. “There's two guys on this team that I want to give the puck to, and that's him and Kopy (Anze Kopitar). When they have the puck, plays happen. As a defenseman, you love to watch it and that gives you opportunities to jump in offensively, too. At the same time, he works very, very hard at both ends of the ice and shows a lot of leadership."

People outside of NHL locker rooms are taking more notice of all of those attributes now.

Bolstered by three more Game 7s this spring, Williams has become a hot topic because of his incredible career statistics in those games. He averages a goal and an assist per game for an NHL-record 14 points in Game 7s, and his team has won all seven of those he’s appeared in.

When the Philadel...