He said he learned more about how to do that, how to be the guy who puts on the signature performance when the lights are the brightest, by playing for Team USA and winning gold at the Winter Olympics in Milan in February.
“You can’t have a bigger moment than what we had,” Hughes said. “Definitely playing in the quarters against Sweden, which was an unbelievable team, but then Canada. I mean, just Hall of Famers all over that game. A game that comes around not even once every four years because you don’t know if Canada and the U.S. will get to the gold-medal game. The last time it happened was 2010, right? So, a game that happens every 16 years. So, a lot of pressure. And I think that’s allowed us, or at least for myself, just to continue to grow in games like this.”
There will be more games like the one he dominated Thursday. Bigger games.
Opportunities grow as the playoff field shrinks.
The Wild are part of the second round for the first time since 2015. The Avalanche are next, which means a chance to beat the Presidents’ Trophy winner, the best team in the League, undefeated in the playoffs so far after sweeping the Los Angeles Kings.
This is why the Wild got Hughes.
For these games. For these moments. For the chance to compete for that trophy.
“That’s what he does, and he does that every night,” Faber said. “It’s no surprise. Big time players step up in big time games, and that’s what he did.”
