Boston Bruins To Battle Flyers Outdoors At Lake Tahoe

For the second time in three seasons and now the fourth time in franchise history, the Boston Bruins will take their game outdoors! 

The NHL and the team announced Monday that the Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers will play in the second game of the first ever NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe on February 21 at 3 PM ET. The first of the two-game outdoor series will take place on February 20 at the same time and pit the Vegas Golden Knights against the Colorado Avalanche. Both games will be televised nationally on NBC in the United States and on TVA and Sportsnet in Canada. 

The event will take place on the 18th fairway of the golf course at Edgewood Tahoe Resort near the California-Nevada border in Stateline, Nevada, the site of the American Century Championship since 1990 and the host of the 1985 U.S. Senior Open and 1980 U.S. Amateur Public Links. As of now,  this is and likely will remain, a fanless event. Only credentialed media and team staff and family will be allowed to attend in what will be a controlled outdoor and indoor bubble environment at the Edgewood Resort.

Reports had surfaced on New Year’s Day that the Bruins would be involved in the event that will keep the NHL’s streak of outdoor games alive at 13-straight seasons. With the COVID pandemic forcing the NHL to have a shortened 56-game season and with realigned divisions, the NHL had to cancel all their outdoor stadium games played at the Winter Classic, which began in 2008, and as part of the Stadium Series that began in 2014.

“We always talk about pond hockey,” NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer told NHL.com. “It’s always been the basis of why we play our outdoor games, and [this idea] always has been something on the shelf.”

The Boston Bruins have played in three Winter Classic games. The NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe will actually provide a rematch of the 2010 Winter Classic that the Boston Bruins won 2-1 in overtime over the Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Park. The Bruins also hosted the 2016 Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium but were routed 5-1 by their bitter rivals, the Montreal Canadiens. Most recently, the Boston Bruins beat the host Chicago Blackhawks 4-2 in the 2019 Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium. 

All four teams in the NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe will wear their ‘Reverse Retro’ jerseys that were introduced this past offseason.