NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Leading into a night the Lightning have been anticipating for months, players kept telling themselves the most important part of competing in the franchise’s first outdoor game was coming home with two points.
But Saturday night’s Stadium Series game against the Predators at the Titans’ Nissan Stadium was no ordinary NHL regular-season game. Even after hoisting the Stanley Cup the past two seasons, they’ve never really been in a showcase event like this one.
The atmosphere for the Lightning’s 3-2 win over the Predators seemed more like a Super Bowl, fitting for an NFL stadium. Big-name musical acts playing during breaks in play. Fireworks lit up the night sky. The game drew a prime-time weekend national TV slot.
Only six players on the Lightning roster had played in an outdoor game, and they told first-timers to take in the experience.
“Just have fun with it and just soak it all in,” said forward Corey Perry. “It doesn’t happen often. You’re looking at those guys, they’ve won Stanley Cups, they’ve won Hart Trophies, they’ve done everything in this league but play in an outdoor game.
“There’s family, there’s friends, there’s people watching on TV back home and it’s a big event. Just go out and have fun. It’s just another hockey game, and just work as hard as you can. That’s all you can really ask for.”
There were some differences on the ice. Players wore eye black to deal with the glare on the ice from the stadium lights. The puck was difficult to corral for skaters. Goalies had to deal with some unpredictable bounces. As far as the weather, it was almost perfect, clear and just cold enough to feel it in your cheeks.
Nashville’s rich country music culture served as a backdrop and made this game especially unique.
Between belting out his country song "Party Mode," Dustin Lynch introduced the Lightning onto the ice. Goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy led the Lightning onto the ice from one of the stadium’s corner tunnels, some 85 steps to the benches.
A house band played on the field between whistles. Just off the rink and in front of either goal, Miranda Lambert and Dierks Bentley performed on makeshift stages during the first intermission.
Three hours before puck drop, a red tractor hitched to a wagon that held the Lightning players pulled up to the gates of Nissan Stadium. Players hopped off, each wearing all denim — jean jackets and matching blue jeans — with bolo ties, cowboy hats and cowboy boots.
After filling Lower Broadway’s bars on Friday night, Lightning fans showed up en mass decked out in the team’s special white Stadium Series jerseys. The team sold out their 20,000-ticket lot and seemed to have at least another 10,000 fans in the stands among the announced 68,619, the largest crowd the Lightning have ever played in front of.
And those fans came to life after the Lightning scored a pair of power play goals in the second period to take a 2-1 lead. The Lightning took some time to get used to their unusual atmosphere, but a team that’s overcome its share of early deficits this season rallied again.
After defenseman Erik Cernak took a right shoulder to the head early in the first period, the Lightning seemed intent on showing they wouldn’t be pushed around on a big stage. Two fights followed, and enforcer Pat Maroon, who tussled with Michael McCarron in the first period, seemed to be looking for a second sparring partner.
Brayden Point scored with a man advantage 58 seconds into the second period, taking a pass from Nikita Kucherov and roofing it from the slot. The Lightning then took advantage of a high-sticking call on Ryan Jeannot, and Kucherov flicked in a go-ahead goal from the right circle 6:18 into the second period.
And when captain Steven Stamkos, who assisted on the Lightning’s first two goals, rifled a shot low past Nashville goaltender Juuse Saros with 8:29 left in the game, some of the local fans started heading for the exits.
They didn’t see Filip Forsberg make it a one-goal game just after the defenseman Victor Hedman went to the penalty box for hooking.
Even though this matchup was on the road, an invite often can lead to hosting a game. While there are several obstacles to having an outdoor game in Tampa or even Florida in general, a strong showing of Lightning fans in Nashville will certainly get the league’s attention. When a large contingent of Nashville fans traveled to Dallas two seasons ago for the Winter Classic, it helped the Predators land this game.
