2018 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series Review

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS 2 AT WASHINGTON CAPITALS 5

NAVY-MARINE CORPS MEMORIAL STADIUM, ANNAPOLIS, MD

CAPITALS STAY PERFECT OUTDOORS, WIN THIRD STRAIGHT

The Capitals improved to 3-0-0 in their three regular-season outdoor NHL game appearances, joining the New York Rangers (4-0-0) as the only teams with more than two such victories. The Capitals also posted victories in the 2011 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh (3-1 vs. Penguins) and 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Nationals Park in Washington (3-2 vs. Blackhawks).

Four Capitals have played in each of their three outdoor games: Nicklas Backstrom, Jay Beagle, JohnCarlson and Alex Ovechkin.

3-POINT PERFORMANCES BY KUZNETSOV, BACKSTROM, CARLSON PACE CAPITALS

A trio of Capitals, forward Evgeny Kuznetsov, forward Nicklas Backstrom and defenseman John Carlson, recorded 1-2–3 in the 2018 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series, tying the mark for most points in an NHL outdoor regular-season game (there have been 12 other instances of a player recording three points outdoors).

Backstrom recorded all his points in the opening frame, becoming the second player in an NHL regular-season outdoor game to tally at least three points in one period. Blackhawks forward Martin Havlat tallied 1-2–3 in the first period of a 6-4 loss to the Red Wings in the 2009 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field in Chicago.

OVECHKIN JOINS ELITE GROUP WITH NINE 40-GOAL SEASONS

Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin tallied his 40th goal of the season in the first period, becoming the sixth player in NHL history with at least nine 40-goal campaigns.

MOST CAREER 40-GOAL SEASONS

12         Wayne Gretzky
10         Marcel Dionne
            Mario Lemieux
9          Alex Ovechkin
            Mike Bossy
            Mike Gartner

Ovechkin, who became the first player in the NHL to hit the 40-goal mark this season, is in quest of his seventh career Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy as the League’s goal-scoring leader.

Ovechkin is the first player in NHL history to be the first to reach 40 goals in a season seven times (in terms of GP), surpassing Bobby Hull (6).

Ovechkin’s goal was the 598th of his NHL career, two shy of becoming the 20th player in League history to reach 600.

ORPIK, VAN RIEMSDYK TIE OUTDOOR GAME RECORD

Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik and Maple Leafs forward James van Riemsdyk tied a record by appearing in their fifth regular-season outdoor NHL game. Orpik skated with the Penguins in outdoor games in 2008, 2011 and 2014, and with the Capitals in the 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C. Van Riemsdyk played in two such games for the Flyers, in 2010 and 2012, and for the Maple Leafs in the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor and the 2017 Scotiabank NHL Centennial Classic at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto.

Orpik and van Riemsdyk tied the mark of five outdoor appearances shared by Patrick Kane, Duncan Keith, Benoit Pouliot, Brad Richards, Brent Seabrook and Jonathan Toews.

STADIUM SERIES QUICK HITS

Maple Leafs forward Tomas Plekanec – who played with the Canadiens in December’s 2017 Scotiabank NHL100 Classic at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa – became the first player in NHL history to participate in outdoor games with multiple teams in the same season.

There now have been 25 total regular-season outdoor NHL games: 10 Winter Classics, nine Stadium Series, four Heritage Classics, one Centennial Classic and one NHL100 Classic.

Fourteen outdoor games have taken place at football venues, 10 have been hosted by baseball parks and one has been staged in a soccer stadium.

The crowd of 29,516 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium increased total attendance at the 25 regular-season outdoor games to 1,313,613 – an average of 52,545 per game. NHL outdoor attendance surpassed the 1-million mark at the 2016 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series between the Avalanche and Red Wings at Coors Field in Denver on Feb. 27, 2016.

Teams that score first improved to 15-7-3 in the League’s 25 outdoor games, including a 10-1-1 record in the last 12 such contests.

SATURDAY’S RESULTS

Home Team in Caps
WASHINGTON 5, Toronto 2
TAMPA BAY 7, Philadelphia 6 (SO)
DALLAS 3, St. Louis 2 (OT)
Chicago 5, LOS ANGELES 3
BOSTON 2, Montreal 1 (OT)
PITTSBURGH 3, NY Islanders 2 (OT)
ARIZONA 2, Ottawa 1
NY Rangers 3, EDMONTON 2

NHL Schedule for Sunday Mar 4 2018

Matchup

Time

 Nashville@ Colorado

3:00 PM ET

 Philadelphia@ Florida

3:00 PM ET

 Chicago@ Anaheim

4:00 PM ET

 Vegas@ New Jersey

5:00 PM ET

 Detroit@ Minnesota

7:00 PM ET

 Winnipeg@ Carolina

7:00 PM ET

 Columbus@ San Jose

9:00 PM ET

Facebook Comments