2023 Winter Classic Recap

One of many things that pleases me as a hockey fan: all of the other sports have their designated holidays, but it's the NHL who takes over the first day of the calendar year. Beginning in 2008, the NHL featured an outdoor game known as the Winter Classic, which serves as the American equivalent of Canada's Heritage Classic. The game is usually played in northern/midwestern cities for obvious reasons, though the 2020 game between the Dallas Stars and the Nashville Predators was actually played at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. Baseball and football stadiums are often used to host the Winter Classic, which takes place on New Year's Day, unless the day falls on Sunday, then it occurs on January 2nd.

The latter part of that statement was the case this year, as the NHL's 14th Winter Classic took place on January 2, 2023. This year, it was the Boston Bruins facing off against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Fenway Park, the famous home of the Boston Red Sox. In the opening ceremony, Bell Biv Devoe (Boston natives) sung the national anthem, and regarding the puck drop, we saw Johnny Bucyk, Zdeno Chara, Jason Varitek, Tim Wakefield, and the iconic Bobby Orr all participate. Quite an epic scene.

The opening period was quiet for the most part, with the exception of two things. First off, unfortunately, Tristan Jarry suffered a lower-body injury late in that frame, and had to be taken out. Casey DeSmith entered and had to deal with the second notable attribute of the first 20 minutes: a Bruins power play. It was killed off, and the game was scoreless after 20. The second period saw the Bruins on a shooting lull, though Pittsburgh only had two shots of their own (despite three PPs--PIT 2, BOS 1--between them in the frame). Their third, however, went in past Linus Ullmark, as Kasperi Kapanen made it 1-0 with assists from Danton Heinen and Jeff Carter, who caused the turnover that led to the goal. Boston's first shot of the period didn't come until the 10:57 mark, but it started a bit of an onslaught following Kapanen's goal. Even so, Boston was down 1-0 after 40.

In the third, each team had their third PP early in the frame, but six seconds after Boston's power play ended, Jake DeBrusk tied it up. David Pastrnak's attempt at the lead was stopped, but Boston was continuing the shot domination that began late in the second. Despite this, the time whittled down with the score still tied at one, and with three minutes left, it seemed like this would be the fifth Winter Classic to go to overtime. DeBrusk did something about that; he put it in for the second time in the period at 17:36 to give Boston the lead. With just over 100 seconds left in regulation, DeSmith was pulled for the extra attacker, and it would lead to Ullmark shooting for the empty net and going wide. Pens had to put DeSmith back in because they iced the puck, but he was pulled back out with 20 seconds left. Evgeni Malkin scored, but there was one problem: he did so after the final horn sounded.

Bruins won, 2-1, to improve to 29-4-4 and 62 points, the best record in the NHL. Linus Ullmark had 26 saves, Jake DeBrusk scored both of Boston's goals, and the only point from any member of the Perfection Line was a Brad Marchand assist on DeBrusk's game tying goal. Boston's points streak increased to 12 games (9-0-3), with their last regulation loss coming on December 9--the team's only regulation loss that month. As for the Penguins, they continue to fall. After going 7-0-1 in an eight game stretch, the Penguins are now 1-4-2 in their last seven games, and they are behind the playoff line, as the two New York clubs hold the Wild Card positions.

The Bruins are now 3-1 in the Winter Classic, while the Penguins lost a Winter Classic for the first time. Next year's winter classic will be in Seattle, as the Seattle Kraken (who will only be in their third season) will host the Vegas Golden Knights on New Year's Day 2024.

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