The league announced the game on January 8, 2025, alongside the 2026 NHL Winter Classic. It was the second outdoor NHL game to be played in Florida, following the 2026 Winter Classic in Miami.[1]
The two open-air showcases headlined a month-long celebration of hockey in Florida, with community and grassroots events planned across the state throughout January 2026.[2]
In the days leading up to the Stadium Series, a portable air conditioned tent was built prior to constructing a rink for the game, as Raymond James Stadium did not have a retractable roof and the Tampa Bay area is known for its mild subtropical climate during winter months, with a historic average temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit on February 1. The tent remained in place while both teams conducted practice the day before the game and was removed several hours before puck drop. Like with the Winter Classic in Miami, two refrigeration unit trucks were used throughout the game.[5] This ended up being unnecessary due to unusually cold temperatures in Tampa, 41 degrees Fahrenheit at puck drop and mostly in the high 30s during the game.[6]
Team jerseys
Boston Bruins
The Bruins' jerseys featured a sunshine-gold base instead of the traditional black, reflecting the Florida setting of the outdoor game. The front replaced the usual Spoked-B with a large “Boston” wordmark and a prominent crawling bear logo, drawing inspiration from their old uniforms from the past. Subtle sun-ray textures were debossed into the sleeves and hem, while the inside collar listed the abbreviations of the six New England states to emphasize regional pride. A new varsity-style secondary “B” logo with bear claw marks appeared on the left shoulder.
Tampa Bay Lightning
The Lightning’s jerseys leaned into the city’s maritime and pirate heritage, debuting pirate-inspired elements tied to Tampa’s famous Gasparilla Pirate Festival with a new shoulder patch on the left shoulder featuring a skull-and-crossed-swords motif. They used a royal blue base combined with a new sky blue accent to reflect both the Florida setting and the Lightning’s identity. Across the front was a large “TBL” wordmark in sky blue trimmed in white, with lightning bolt designs woven through the lettering and numbers for a dynamic look. Subtle Gasparilla bead-like details were debossed into striping on the sleeves and waist, and inside the collar were beadwork references tying back to the local festival tradition.
11 seconds into the contest, Tampa Bay's Brandon Hagel scored on the first shot of the game to record the fastest goal to start an outdoor game in NHL history, passing Colby Armstrong's goal 21 seconds into the 2008 Winter Classic. The Bruins respond with 3 unanswered goals in the first period, scored by Alex Steeves, Morgan Geekie, and Viktor Arvidsson respectively. In the second period, Boston added two more goals by Matthew Poitras and another by Geekie. Oliver Bjorkstrand scored on the power play before a goalie fight ensued between Andrei Vasilevskiy and Jeremy Swayman. After the brawl, Boston tallied 4 straight penalties, which led to 2 power play goals by Darren Raddysh and Nick Paul. In the third period, Nikita Kucherov tied the game at 5, and the game went to overtime, and ultimately, a shootout, the third for an NHL outdoor game, and first for the Stadium Series. Jake Guentzel scored the only goal of the shootout in the third round, as Tampa came back and won the game 6–5, marking the biggest comeback in outdoor game and franchise history. This game tied the record for the highest-scoring NHL outdoor game, set during the 2024 Stadium Series game.[6]
In the first intermission, country music star Tim McGraw performed. [7] The national anthem was performed by Hunter Hayes, accompanied by deaf performer Ivan Jarama in American Sign Language. [8] Former Bruins and Lightning player Patrick Maroon (who also broadcasts on Lightning telecasts) presided over the ceremonial puck drop, as he was in Tampa for being the grand marshal of the 2026 Gasparilla Parade of Pirates the previous day.
Broadcasting
The game aired in the United States on ESPN and was streamed on ESPN+, Disney+, and Hulu. Also, the game featured an alternate NHL in ASL presentation featuring deaf commentators providing real-time play-by-play and color commentary in ASL. In Canada, the game aired on Sportsnet in English and TVA Sports in French.
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