2022 NHL Stadium Series

2022 NHL Stadium Series

1 2 3 Total Tampa Bay Lightning 0 2 1 3 Nashville Predators 1 0 1 2
Date	February 26, 2022
Venue	Nissan Stadium
City	Nashville, Tennessee
Attendance	68,619
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The 2022 NHL Stadium Series was an outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game, part of the Stadium Series of games. The game took place on February 26, 2022, at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, with the Nashville Predators hosting the Tampa Bay Lightning. ^[1] This was the first NHL outdoor game for the Lightning and the second for the Predators.

Background

The NHL originally announced on February 15, 2020, that the 2021 Stadium Series would be hosted by the Carolina Hurricanes at Carter–Finley Stadium. ^[2] After he took majority control of the team in 2018, Hurricanes owner Thomas Dundon made it a goal to have his club play in its first outdoor game. In 2019, Dundon invited NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman to take a tour of Carter–Finley Stadium to see if it was feasible. ^[3] Before the league could finalize the game, the Hurricanes had to seek additional funding from the local government and other organizations to help offset the cost of hosting the game. ^[4]

The NHL delayed the start of the 2020–21 season to January 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic having forced the 2019–20 playoffs to conclude in late September. ^[5] On October 22, 2020, the NHL postponed both the 2021 NHL Winter Classic and the 2021 All-Star Game due to "ongoing uncertainty" since both January events rely on fan participation. ^{[6] [7]} The decision to further postpone the Stadium Series game was made on December 23. ^[8]

The Hurricanes later asked the league to move their outdoor game to the 2022–23 season, ^[9] with team president and general manager Don Waddell stating that he wanted "to assure a safe environment." ^[10] On June 28, 2021, the league announced that the 2022 game would instead take place at Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee, with the Nashville Predators hosting to the Tampa Bay Lightning. ^[1]

Game summary

The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Nashville Predators 3-2, with Lightning captain Steven Stamkos receiving the first star of the game, with one goal and two assists. At 1:19 of the first period, Ryan Johansen illegally checked Erik Cernak to the head that would result in Cernak not returning for the last two periods of the game and Johansen receiving a minor penalty, reduced from what was originally a major penalty. Tanner Jeannot scored the first goal of the game for the Predators during a power play at 8:20, scoring the only goal of the period. Early in the second period, Brayden Point put the Lightning on the board with a power play goal at 0:58. The Lightning would score again this period on another power play, with Nikita Kucherov scoring at 6:18 to make it 2-1. At 11:31 of the third period, Cal Foote fed the puck to Steven Stamkos who slap shots it into the net, making the score 3-1. Later in the period at 12:29, the Filip Forsberg scores a power play goal to make it 3-2. The Predators could not tie the game with an empty net, and the Lightning prevail with a final score of 3-2. Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy made 26 saves in the win, while Nashville goalie Juuse Saros made 30 saves. There was only one even strength goal of the entire game. ^{[11] [12]}

Scoring summary
Period	Team	Goal	Assist(s)	Time	Score
1st	NSH	Tanner Jeannot (18) – pp	Philip Tomasino (10), Colton Sissons (16)	8:20	NSH 0-1
2nd	TBL	Brayden Point (20) – pp	Nikita Kucherov (15), Steven Stamkos (33)	0:58	1-1
	TBL	Nikita Kucherov (9) – pp	Victor Hedman (40), Steven Stamkos (34)	6:18	TBL 2-1
3rd	TBL	Steven Stamkos (25)	Cal Foote (5), Alex Killorn (29)	11:31	TBL 3-1
	NSH	Filip Forsberg (27) – pp	Mikael Granlund (33), Ryan Johansen (24)	12:29	TBL 3-2

Number in parentheses represents the player's total in goals or assists to that point of the season

Penalty summary
Period	Team	Player	Penalty	Time	PIM
1st	NSH	Ryan Johansen	Illegal check to head	1:19	2:00
	TBL	Mathieu Joseph	High sticking	6:34	2:00
	TBL	Patrick Maroon	Fighting	9:55	5:00
	NSH	Michael McCarron	Fighting	9:55	5:00
	NSH	Matt Benning	Interference	19:49	2:00
2nd	TBL	Pierre-Édouard Bellemare	Fighting	5:06	5:00
	NSH	Ryan Johansen	Fighting	5:06	5:00
	NSH	Tanner Jeannot	High sticking	5:15	2:00
	TBL	Ryan McDonagh	Roughing	7:15	2:00
	NSH	Philippe Myers	Tripping	18:35	2:00
3rd	TBL	Pierre-Édouard Bellemare	Interference	6:57	2:00
	TBL	Victor Hedman	Hooking	12:22	2:00

Shots by period Team 1 2 3 Total TB 12 13 8 33 NSH 11 5 12 28

Power play opportunities Team Goals/Opportunities Tampa Bay 2 / 4 Nashville 2 / 4

Three star selections
	Team	Player	Statistics
1st	TBL	Steven Stamkos	1 goal, 2 assists
2nd	TBL	Nikita Kucherov	1 goal, 1 assist
3rd	NSH	Juuse Saros	30 saves

Team rosters

Tampa Bay Lightning # Player Position 1 Brian Elliott G 7 Mathieu Joseph RW 10 Corey Perry RW 14 Patrick Maroon LW 16 Taylor Raddysh RW 17 Alex Killorn LW 18 Ondřej Palát LW 21 Brayden Point C 27 Ryan McDonagh (A) D 41 Pierre-Édouard Bellemare LW 44 Jan Rutta D 52 Cal Foote D 71 Anthony Cirelli C 77 Victor Hedman (A) D 79 Ross Colton C 81 Erik Černák D 86 Nikita Kucherov RW 88 Andrei Vasilevskiy G 91 Steven Stamkos (C) C 98 Mikhail Sergachev D Head coach: Jon Cooper

Nashville Predators # Player Position 5 Matt Benning D 9 Filip Forsberg LW 10 Colton Sissons C 11 Luke Kunin C 13 Yakov Trenin C 14 Mattias Ekholm (A) D 17 Ben Harpur D 24 Matt Luff RW 26 Philip Tomasino C 28 Eeli Tolvanen RW 33 David Rittich G 47 Michael McCarron RW 55 Philippe Myers D 57 Dante Fabbro D 59 Roman Josi (C) D 64 Mikael Granlund (A) C 74 Juuse Saros G 84 Tanner Jeannot LW 92 Ryan Johansen C 95 Matt Duchene C Head coach: John Hynes

^ Brian Elliott and David Rittich dressed as the back-up goaltenders. Neither entered the game.

Scratches

• Tampa Bay Lightning: Boris Katchouk, Andrej Šustr
• Nashville Predators: Mark Borowiecki, Alexandre Carrier, Matt Tennyson

Entertainment

Country singer Dustin Lynch performed the song "Party Mode" during team introductions. He was accompanied by the Vanderbilt Spirit dance team. Singer Jessie James Decker sang the national anthem. The ceremonial puck drop was conducted by Titans alumni players Brett Kern and Taylor Lewan along with Predators alumni player Pekka Rinne. Country singers Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley performed during the first intermission. Dierks Bentley performed the songs "Burning Man" and "I Hold On". Miranda Lambert performed the songs "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)" and "Kerosene". Bentley and Lambert also sang the song "Gimme All Your Lovin'" together in a duet. ^[13]

Broadcasting

The game was broadcast nationally in the United States by TNT. ^[14] With it being scheduled for a Saturday night, the game will air north of the border under the Hockey Night in Canada banner on Sportsnet. ^[15]

References

1. "NHL Announces 2021-22 Outdoor Games and 2022 Honda NHL All-Star Weekend" (Press release). National Hockey League. June 28, 2021.
2. "Hurricanes to host 2021 NHL Stadium Series at N.C. State" (Press release). National Hockey League. February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
3. Smith, Michael (February 27, 2019). "Bettman Talks Outdoor Game in Raleigh, Storm Surge". Carolina Hurricanes.
4. Alexander, Chip (February 6, 2020). "Hurricanes seek funding for 2021 NHL Stadium Series outdoor game in Carter-Finley Stadium". The News & Observer .
5. "NHL, NHLPA targeting Jan. 1 as start date for 2020-21 season". Sportsnet . Associated Press. October 7, 2020. Retrieved October 7, 2020.
6. "NHL postpones Winter Classic, All-Star Weekend for upcoming season". Sportsnet. October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
7. "NHL postpones 2021 Winter Classic, All-Star Game". NBC Sports. October 22, 2020. Retrieved October 22, 2020.
8. "2021 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series Game Postponed" (Press release). Carolina Hurricanes. December 23, 2020. Retrieved December 25, 2020.
9. Russo, Michael (June 28, 2021). "Blues-Wild Winter Classic in Minneapolis set for Jan. 1; All-Star Game to Vegas" . The Athletic . A source said the Carolina Hurricanes, whose 2021 Stadium Series game in Raleigh, N.C., was postponed in December, deferred their outdoor game to the 2022-23 season.
10. "Minnesota's Target Field to host 2022 NHL Winter Classic". Sportsnet. June 28, 2021.
11. "Lightning vs. Predators - Game Recap - February 26, 2022". ESPN. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
12. "Stamkos, Lightning hold off Predators in Stadium Series". NHL.com. Retrieved February 27, 2022.
13. "NHL announces full All-Star country lineup for Stadium Series Outdoor Game" . Retrieved February 26, 2022.
14. "Turner Sports Announces 50-Game Telecast Schedule for Inaugural 2021-22 NHL Regular Season Beginning Wednesday, Oct. 13 | Pressroom" (Press release). WarnerMedia. September 16, 2021.
15. "NHL Stadium Series logo unveiled" (Press release). National Hockey League. October 4, 2021.