Top Moments of the 2019-20 Regular Season: No. 3

With the 2019-20 regular season officially over, Hurricanes.com is counting down the top 10 moments from the last year, presented by Storm Brew from our friends at R&D Brewing.

Previous Top Moments: 10. Ward Retires, Sounds Warning Siren | 9. Geekie Shines in First Two NHL Games | 8. Canes Bolster Lineup on Deadline Day | 7. Hamilton Scores from the Red Line | 6. Slavin Wins Accuracy Shooting at NHL All-Star Skills | 5. Aho Records Career-Long 14-Game Point Streak | 4. Staal Named Team Captain

3. Justin Williams returns to the team and makes an immediate impact

On Tuesday, Jan. 7, Justin Williams watched from a suite as the Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime, 5-4. Like he had been for the three months prior, Williams was a fan, a familiar face in the crowd rooting on a team of his friends.

Then, he became their teammate once again.

Shortly after the end of that Tuesday night divisional match-up, speculation and rumor turned into reality as Williams inked his contract for the remainder of the 2019-20 season.

The veteran forward was back, and he was ready.

"Absolutely it's exciting. I'm thrilled with the opportunity," he said the next day at a re-introductory press conference. "My adrenaline just gets more and more upbeat every day. I'll be excited to get back into the dressing room, see the guys and compete."

READ: WILLIAMS RETURNS TO CANES READY TO COMPETE

By that Thursday, Williams was back on the ice at practice. It was almost like he had never left.

"It's fun," Williams smiled after his first skate with his new-old team. "Welcomed back by everybody. I got to know the new guys a little bit, and I'll continue to get to know them. I expect this to be very seamless and very easy because I had the right attitude coming in here."

The prevailing question was when Williams would make his season debut, and that answer came about 10 days later.

On Sunday, Jan. 19, Williams dressed and returned to the Canes' lineup against the New York Islanders, and he immediately made a difference.

Williams netted the game-deciding goal in the eighth round of the shootout, lifting the Canes to a 2-1 divisional win. The hero in his long-awaited return. Could you have scripted a better ending?

"Not really," Brind'Amour agreed. "Only Willy can make that up."

Two nights later, Williams netted Video: NYI@CAR: Williams scores SO goal, leads Storm Surge. The crowd drowned out his postgame bench interview with chants of his name.

"This is pretty special," he said. "It's a special place to play hockey."

It was pretty special, too, for a 38-year-old veteran to miss the first three-and-a-half months of the season before jumping into the fray and making an immediate impact.

"He's a good player. He obviously had a good game tonight and came up with some big goals for us, which we needed," Brind'Amour said after the Video: NYI@CAR: Williams scores SO goal, leads Storm Surge. "He knows how to play. I don't care how old you are. If you know how to play and you know where to go, that's kind of what he does."

Williams recorded an assist in his third game back before the adrenaline fumes of his return petered off. Though he found the scoresheet in only one of his next 12 games, he twice more netted shootout-winning goals in that same stretch. By early March, he had caught up with the pace of the league, and he ended the regular season with goals in five straight games (6g), becoming the oldest player in franchise history to accomplish that feat.

His story doesn't end there.

"I didn't come back just to play 20 games," he said in a Video: NYI@CAR: Williams scores SO goal, leads Storm Surge. "I came back for a chance to win a Stanley Cup."