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; 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 played outdoors, 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 held at football or

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

stadiums. The

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

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. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...

, 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 college football and lacrosse team ...

, the home stadium of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, 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 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

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

Background

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the 2018 Stadium Series game is the start of a unique partnership with the U.S. military 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 the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

had 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 current seating capacity of 38,000. The stadium sits at t ...

on the campus of the

U.S. Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

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, West Point was identified by General George Washington as the most important strategic position in America during the Ame ...

Game summary

Washington's

Alexander Ovechkin Alexander Mikhailovich Ovechkin ( rus, Александр Михайлович Овечкин, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐˈvʲetɕkʲɪn; born 17 September 1985) is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger and captain of the Washington Capital ...

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

Evgeny Kuznetsov Yevgeny Yevgenyevich Kuznetsov (russian: Евгений Евгеньевич Кузнецов; born 19 May 1992) is a Russian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). He ...

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 powercut, a power out, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, or a blackout) is the loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an electricity ...

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 for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs seventh overall in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft. He played his juni ...

and

Zach Hyman Zachary Martin Hyman (born June 9, 1992) is a Canadian professional ice hockey left winger and author, currently playing for the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He previously played for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Hockey Can ...

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 Connor Carrick (born April 13, 1994) is an American professional ice hockey defenseman who currently plays under contract to the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was selected by the Washington Capitals in the fifth round (137 ...

, Matt Martin, Josh Leivo *Washington Capitals: Madison Bowey, Jakub Jeřábek, Alex Chiasson, Travis Boyd

Television

The game was televised in the United States on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

, and in Canada as part of 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 ...

'' coverage that was simulcast of both CBC and Sportsnet, 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 ...

. 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 CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...

' 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 in the Eastern Conference. The team has been in existence since 1924, making t ...

was played earlier at 5 p.m., the

Ottawa Senators The Ottawa Senators (french: Sénateurs d'Ottawa), officially the Ottawa Senators Hockey Club and colloquially known as the Sens, are a professional ice hockey team based in Ottawa. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a membe ...

Arizona Coyotes The Arizona Coyotes are a professional ice hockey team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Coyotes compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference and currently play at the Mul ...

contest (on

City A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

) 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 of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

was pushed to 10:30 p.m. ET. Due to the power outage delay, NBC switched the final minutes of the game to NBCSN at 11 p.m. ET, as to prevent local newscasts and ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...

'' 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 Maryland Sports in Annapolis, Maryland