Williams, who won the Cup with Carolina in 2006 and Los Angeles in 2012 and 2014, is best known for his heroism in Game 7. He recorded an NHL-record 15 points, and his team went 8- 1 in these matches.

He enters this series for Game 3 on Monday in Tampa with the Avalanche dominating lead 2-0 on the two-time defending champion Lightning, who will need to replicate their return to the Eastern Conference Finals to force even a Game 6.

“One team has been really good, and the other team hasn’t shown what they can do yet,” Williams said. “You fully expect a rebounding performance and more of a play than what we saw in Game 2.”

Talking about hockey isn’t a problem for the 40-year-old who is still connected to the game as a coach to his kids and an adviser to the Carolina Hurricanes. Happy with his decision to hang up his skates in 2020, Williams’ new TV teammates are fellow retired players Mike Johnson and Mike Rupp and host Jamison Coyle, who have a combined 2,786 NHL games. and four Cup rings among them.

“With these guys it’s going to be a piece of cake and I expect it to go really well,” Williams said. “You try to make your point and get in, out, wear them, and then if I have something thoughtful that I think is interesting to add to the group, I’ll definitely do that.”

Outside of family and professional hockey obligations, Williams plays a lot of golf and tennis and enjoys life after the game in the Raleigh-Durham area of ​​North Carolina. When approached for a television role, he thought it would be next season and jumped at the chance to make an appearance in the Stanley Cup Finals.

“I looked at the schedule and thought I could do it and said why not,” he said. “I dip my toe into everything and kind of see what I want to be when I grow up.”

Colorado coach Jared Bednar said injured forward Andre Burakovsky was being assessed Sunday morning and not flying with the team. Bednar said Burakovsky will join the Avalanche in Tampa on Monday.

Burakovsky, who scored the winner of extra time in Game 1, has been playing through pain since blocking a shot in Game 1 of the Western Final against Edmonton. He didn’t put weight on his right leg while skating and needed help going down the tunnel afterwards.

Bednar said center Nazem Kadri, who has been out since suffering a thumb injury in the Oilers series, was traveling with the team but had no further details on when he might be available for. to play. Kadri continues to skate and has stepped up his activity by adding a stick and handling the puck more.

“I’m not sure of the Naz timeline yet,” Bednar said. “We hope we will see it at some point. I’m not sure about Game 3 or Game 4. We’ll see.

The Hart League Most Valuable Player Trophy and other NHL awards will be presented Tuesday night in Tampa. Cale Makar of Colorado and Victor Hedman of Tampa Bay are finalists for the Norris Trophy as top defenseman, along with Roman Josi of Nashville.

“I watched quite a few of these guys during the regular season and even before I got into the league,” Makar said before the start of the Finals. “It’s fun to go against them. You get to see them. It’s great to be on the ice with them.

Follow AP Hockey writer Stephen Whyno on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SWhyno

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