Dan Sanford

Sports Editor

das6267@psu.edu

In an unprecedented time for sports that involves few fans, it is hard not to draw attention to special editions of games such as those outdoor games hosted by the National Hockey League (NHL) each season. 

Each year since the Winter Classic’s 2008 introduction, the NHL has made it tradition that at least one game is played outdoors – how the game of ice hockey began – as a special event. However, this year comes with two caveats: the games were barely promoted before they commenced so as not to draw in too much public attention around the game site, and for the first time, the outdoor games were not being played in a stadium venue, but rather a constructed rink at an iconic location: Lake Tahoe. The home-state Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche would meet up for the first game of the set on Saturday, followed by a second set between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins. All four teams wore their Reverse Retro special edition jerseys that were recently released by Adidas for the occasion.

The first game was scheduled to be a 1:00 matinee, 11:00 am local time, and began as planned, but was postponed after the first period due to poor ice conditions. The Avalanche would lead the Knights 1-0 after an early wrist shot goal taken at the right circle from Samuel Girard. The game resumed at 12:00 am Sunday, 9:00 pm local time.

Although the Avalanche peppered Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury with shots and the Avalanche at one point led the shot count 23-8, Alex Pietrangelo put the ninth shot on goal seven minutes into the second period, and Alec Martinez capitalized on the rebound, tying the game on shot number ten. This tie would not last long, however, as Nathan MacKinnon would zip right past both Mark Stone and Pietrangelo about four minutes later for a dazzling wrist shot goal to restore the Avalanche lead; NHL on NBC play-by-play analyst Mike Tirico remarked that it was “the Magic of MacKinnon”. Gabriel Landeskog nearly made it 3-1 another four minutes later, hitting the post on a feed from MacKinnon.

A Devon Toews slapshot, however, would bounce in to give the Avalanche a two-goal lead with under seven minutes to play in the third period; the Knights’ Alex Tuch responded with a spectacular spinning backhand goal only a minute later, but the Golden Knights were unable to fully climb out of the hole and the Avalanche won 3-2.

Taking note of the mistakes made with the matinee schedule on Saturday, Philadelphia and Boston’s meeting was moved to 8:00 pm, 5:00 pm local time. Boston took command immediately, with the “perfection line” of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak striking the back of the net just 34 seconds into the game – the latter putting the Bruins on the board. Six minutes later, Sean Couturier shot the puck in behind the Boston net, and Joel Farabee outskated the defense and potted the puck in to tie the game at a goal apiece. Couturier himself would add a tally to give the Flyers the lead with five to go in the first, but Charlie McAvoy answered after less than a minute afterward with a slapshot from the blueline.

Pastrnak once again scored early in the first minute of the second period, and the game would remain relatively tightly contested for the next fifteen minutes. However, with less than four minutes to go in the period, Boston scored three goals in the span of 90 seconds, including the first NHL goal for Bruins forward Trent Frederic. With the Bruins up 6-2 going into the third period, the remainder of the game was relatively uneventful; aside from Carter Hart’s replacement in goal with Brian Elliott, James van Riemsdyk scored another goal for the Flyers, and Pastrnak completed a hat trick as the Bruins closed out the game 7-3. They are the second team to ever score seven goals in an outdoor game; it was first accomplished by the New York Rangers seven years prior.

Although there were not any fans present, all in all, outdoor games remain a magical time for the players lucky enough to participate. These four did it in beautiful Lake Tahoe, away from all the massive attention that sometimes can get to players.