The 2018 NHL Stadium Series (officially the 2018 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series for sponsorship reasons) was a regular season

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

(NHL) game played outdoors, part of the

Stadium Series The Stadium Series is one of the series of NHL outdoor games, regular season outdoor games played in the National Hockey League (NHL). This event is distinct from the NHL's other two series of outdoor games, the NHL Winter Classic, played in a di ...

of games held at

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

stadiums. The

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The Capitals compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NH ...

defeated the

Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. The Maple Leafs compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the A ...

, 5–2, at

Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium is an open-air stadium located off the campus of the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. Opened in 1959, it serves as the home stadium of the Navy Midshipmen Navy Midshipmen football, college f ...

, the home stadium of the

U.S. Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the sec ...

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is the county seat of Anne Arundel County and its only incorporated city. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east ...

, on March 3, 2018. This was the only game in the Stadium Series scheduled for the 2017–18 season (as opposed to multiple games in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

), and marked the first appearance of a Canadian team in the Stadium Series.

Background

NHL commissioner The National Hockey League commissioner () is the highest-ranking corporate title, executive officer in the National Hockey League (NHL). The position was created in 1993; Gary Bettman was named the first commissioner and remains the only person t ...

Gary Bettman Gary Bruce Bettman (born June 2, 1952) is an American sports executive who serves as the NHL commissioner, commissioner of the National Hockey League (NHL), a post he has held since February 1, 1993. Previously, Bettman was a senior vice preside ...

said the 2018 Stadium Series game is the start of a unique partnership with the

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. U.S. federal law names six armed forces: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and the Coast Guard. Since 1949, all of the armed forces, except th ...

in which the NHL plans to host outdoor games at military service academies around the United States. In the fall of 2016, the NHL and the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

explored the possibility of holding an outdoor game at

Michie Stadium Michie Stadium is an outdoor football stadium on the campus of the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York. The home field for the Army Black Knights, it opened in 1924 and has a seating capacity of 30,000 for the 2024 and 2025 seasons. ...

on the campus of the U.S. Military Academy in

West Point, New York West Point is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States. Located on the Hudson River in New York (state), New York, General George Washington stationed his headquarters in West Point in the summer and fall of 1779 durin ...

Game summary

Washington's

Alexander Ovechkin Alexander Mikhailovich Ovechkin (, ; born 17September 1985) is a Russian professional ice hockey Winger (ice hockey), left winger and Captain (ice hockey), captain of the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "the ...

scored his 40th goal of the season, while Nicklas Backstrom,

Evgeny Kuznetsov Yevgeny Evgenyevich Kuznetsov (; born 19 May 1992) is a Russian professional ice hockey forward who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for SKA Saint Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL). He previously ...

and John Carlson each had a goal and two assists. With ten minutes left in the third period, a

power outage A power outage, also called a blackout, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, a power cut, or a power out is the complete loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an el ...

at Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium suspended play for about 15 minutes. Despite the power failure delay, the Capitals went on to win the game 5–2. In addition to the Ovechkin goal, the other Capitals players who scored were Evgeny Kuznetsov, Nicklas Backstrom, John Carlson, and Jakub Vrana.

Nazem Kadri Nazem Kadri (born October 6, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player and alternate captain for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). Kadri won the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022, becoming the first ...

and Zach Hyman scored the Maple Leafs' goals. ''Number in parentheses represents the player's total in goals or assists to that point of the season.''

Team rosters

: Philipp Grubauer dressed as the back-up goaltender for Washington and did not enter the game.

Scratches

*Toronto Maple Leafs: Connor Carrick, Matt Martin, Josh Leivo *Washington Capitals: Madison Bowey, Jakub Jerabek, Alex Chiasson, Travis Boyd

Television

The game was televised in the United States on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, and in Canada as part of the ''

Hockey Night in Canada ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') is a long-running program of broadcast ice hockey play-by-play coverage in Canada. With roots in pioneering hockey coverage on private radio stations as early as 1923, ...

'' coverage that was simulcast of both

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

and

Sportsnet Sportsnet is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language Discretionary service, discretionary sports broadcasting, sports specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. It was established in 1998 as CTV Sportsnet, a joint venture betw ...

, and in French on

TVA Sports TVA Sports is a Canadian French-language sports specialty channel owned by the Groupe TVA, a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media. The channel is a general-interest sports network, and the first major competitor to RDS, the only other F ...

. To accommodate NBC's preferred 8 p.m ET start time for the Stadium Series game, ''HNIC'' had an irregular schedule on this particular Saturday: the

Montreal Canadiens The Montreal Canadiens (), officially ' ( Canadian Hockey Club) and colloquially known as the Habs, are a professional ice hockey team based in Montreal. The Canadiens compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic D ...

' game against the

Boston Bruins The Boston Bruins are a professional ice hockey team based in Boston. The Bruins compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The t ...

was played earlier at 5 p.m., the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. The Senators compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Di ...

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are an inactive professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. They competed in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division (1996–1998, 2021–2024) and ...

contest (on

City A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

) also took place at 8 p.m. instead of the normal 7 p.m. start time for the early games, and the late doubleheader game featuring the

at the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. Th ...

was pushed to 10:30 p.m. ET. Due to the power outage delay, NBC switched the final minutes of the game to

NBCSN NBCSN (also known as NBC Sports Network) was an American sports television television channel, channel owned by the NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It originally launched on July 1, 1995, as the Outdoor Lif ...

at 11 p.m. ET to prevent local newscasts and ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' from being delayed.

References

{{Washington Capitals NHL Stadium Series

2018 in ice hockey 2018 in sports in Maryland Ice hockey in Maryland Toronto Maple Leafs games Washington Capitals games NHL Stadium Series Sports competitions in Annapolis, Maryland