NASHVILLE, Tenn. (Feb. 26, 2022) – The country music capital of the world became the hockey capital of the world on Saturday when the 2022 NHL Stadium Series took place. The Nashville Predators faced off against the back-to-back and current Stanley Cup champions Tampa Bay Lightning, who would eventually go on to win the game 3-2.
The annual event takes place in a “home court” style, matching two teams up for a regular season contest held inside of a football or baseball stadium within the home team’s city.
When Nashville was chosen as the host of the 2022 NHL Stadium Series, many questions were asked about the city’s capabilities to host a major NHL event, but one thing was certain, there would be no lack of fans in attendance. Cold weather didn’t deter the 68,619 fans that showed up for the historical event. Earlier in the week, the Preds set an attendance record of 17,869 at their home venue, the Bridgestone Arena.
It was the Predators that struck first once the puck dropped, when Tanner Jeannot found the net early to put the Preds up 1-0. It was Jeannot’s 18th goal of the season. Both teams dominated on defense for the remainder of the period.
The second period was not kind to the Preds, as they were only able to find five shots on goal for the entirety of the 20-minute period. The Lighting scored twice in the period with the first score coming within 58-seconds of play resuming. Tampa Bay fan favorite, Brayden Point, scored the first goal to even the game 1-1, it was his 20th of the season. The dominant Lightning team kept pressure on Preds when Nikita Kucherov scored soon after the teams first goal and made the score 2-1 Lightning. The Predators were held to only five shots on goal in the period.
The third period saw the Lightning all but seal the deal halfway through when Steven Stamkos scored his 25th goal of the season and put his team up 3-1 with less than nine minutes remaining
The Predators started to gain momentum after a few big saves by goalie Juuse Saros put them back on track. When Filip Forsberg scored for Nashville, the stadium erupted in excitement. Electricity filled the stands, and one more chant filled the seats, but it would not be enough for the Predators to stop the Lightning with a final score of 3-2.
In what can only be seen as more proof that Nashville has fully embraced the hockey culture and utter support of their team, Tampa Bay fans also showed up in a respectable amounts for their team. Fans of both teams could be seen laughing and joking together as the clock ticked down. Fireworks filled the air as both teams celebrated the moment.
It was then clear that the NHL did it right this year in choosing Nashville as a host to these two competitive contenders for the Stanley Cup.
