The 2022 NHL Stadium Series was an outdoor regular season

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) game, part of the

Stadium Series The Stadium Series is one of the series of 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 and NHL Heritage Classic outdoor ...

of games. The game took place on February 26, 2022, at Nissan Stadium in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

, with the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

hosting the

Tampa Bay Lightning The Tampa Bay Lightning (colloquially known as the Bolts) are a professional ice hockey team based in Tampa, Florida. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference. They play th ...

. 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 The Carolina Hurricanes (colloquially known as the Canes) are a professional ice hockey team based in Raleigh, North Carolina. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ...

Carter–Finley Stadium Wayne Day Family Field at Carter–Finley Stadium is home to the NC State Wolfpack football team. It was opened in 1966 and has grown to a seating capacity of 56,919 seats. History As early as the 1950s, State was looking to replace its on-camp ...

. 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. 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. The NHL delayed the start of the 2020–21 season to January 2021, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

having forced the 2019–20 playoffs to conclude in late September. 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. The decision to further postpone the Stadium Series game was made on December 23. The Hurricanes later asked the league to move their outdoor game to the 2022–23 season, with team president and general manager

Don Waddell Donald Douglas Waddell (born August 19, 1958) is American professional ice hockey executive and former player. He is the president and general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes. Playing career Waddell was selected 111th overall, in the 1978 NH ...

stating that he wanted "to assure a safe environment." On June 28, 2021, the league announced that the 2022 game would instead take place at Nissan Stadium in

, with the

hosting to the

Game summary

The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Nashville Predators 3-2, with Lightning captain

Steven Stamkos Steven Stamkos (born February 7, 1990) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Stamkos was selected first overall in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Lightning. He ...

receiving the first star of the game, with one goal and two assists. At 1:19 of the first period,

Ryan Johansen Ryan Johansen (born July 31, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and alternate captain for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Growing up, he played minor hockey in the Greater Vancouver area until joining ...

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 Nikita Igorevich Kucherov (russian: Никита Игоревич Кучеров; born 17 June 1993) is a Russian professional ice hockey right winger for the Tampa Bay Lightning of the National Hockey League (NHL). Regarded as one of the best ...

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 Carl Filip Anton Forsberg (; born 13 August 1994) is a Swedish professional ice hockey player and alternate captain for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Forsberg was selected by the Washington Capitals in the first ro ...

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 Juuse Saros (born 19 April 1995) is a Finnish professional ice hockey goaltender for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL). Saros was selected by the Predators in the fourth round (99th overall) of the 2013 NHL Entry Draft. ...

made 30 saves. There was only one even strength goal of the entire game. :''Number in parentheses represents the player's total in goals or assists to that point of the season''

Team rosters

: 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 Dustin Charles Lynch (born May 14, 1985) is an American country music singer and songwriter, signed to Broken Bow Records. Lynch has released four albums and one EP for the label: a self-titled album in 2012, '' Where It's At'' in 2014, '' Curren ...

performed the song " Party Mode" during team introductions. He was accompanied by the Vanderbilt Spirit dance team. Singer

Jessie James Decker Jessica Rose James Decker (born April 12, 1988) is an American country pop singer. At age 15, after auditioning for and being rejected by most of the country labels in Nashville, Tennessee, Decker began working with Carla Wallace of Big Yell ...

sang the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and Europea ...

. Country singers

Miranda Lambert Miranda Leigh Lambert (born November 10, 1983) is an American country singer and guitarist. Born in Longview, Texas, she started out in early 2001 when she released her self-titled debut album independently. In 2003, she finished in third place o ...

and

Dierks Bentley Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. In 2003, he signed to Capitol Nashville and released his eponymous debut album. Both it and its follow-up, 2005's '' Modern Day Drifter'', a ...

performed during the first intermission. Dierks Bentley performed the songs " Burning Man" and "

I Hold On "I Hold On" is a song co-written and recorded by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released in August 2013 as the second single from his 2014 album '' Riser''. Bentley wrote the song with Brett James. Content The song describes ...

". Miranda Lambert performed the songs "

Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home) "Drunk (And I Don't Wanna Go Home)" is a song by American singers Elle King and Miranda Lambert. It was released on February 26, 2021 as the lead single from King's third studio album ''Come Get Your Wife''. The song reached number one on the Cou ...

" and "

Kerosene Kerosene, paraffin, or lamp oil is a combustible hydrocarbon liquid which is derived from petroleum. It is widely used as a fuel in aviation as well as households. Its name derives from el, κηρός (''keros'') meaning "wax", and was regi ...

". Bentley and Lambert also sang the song "

Gimme All Your Lovin' "Gimme All Your Lovin'" is a song by ZZ Top from their 1983 album '' Eliminator''. It was released as the album's first single in 1983. Initially unsuccessful in the UK upon its August 1983 release, in the wake of the band's American success (t ...

" together in a duet.

Broadcasting

The game was broadcast nationally in the United States by

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

. With it being scheduled for a Saturday night, the game will air north of the border under the ''

Hockey Night in Canada CBC Television has aired National Hockey League (NHL) broadcasts under the ''Hockey Night in Canada'' (often abbreviated ''Hockey Night'' or ''HNiC'') brand that is primarily associated with its Saturday night NHL broadcasts throughout its hi ...

'' banner on Sportsnet.

References

{{Hockey Night in Canada NHL Stadium Series

Nashville Predators games Tampa Bay Lightning games NHL Stadium Series 2022 in sports in Tennessee 21st century in Nashville, Tennessee Sports competitions in Nashville, Tennessee Ice hockey competitions in Tennessee