The Seattle Kraken and Vegas Golden Knights met in the clubs’ first outdoor game.
The Seattle Kraken, who were in good shape at the turn of the year, defeated the Vegas Golden Knights in the first outdoor game in the history of the teams.
In the match played at the home stadium of the baseball team Seattle Mariners, Seattle won 3–0.
Seattle’s Finnish forward Eeli Tolvanen opened his team’s scoring account in the first period of the match. Tolvane also had an American striker with him by Will Borgen shooting in the second goal, from which the Finn grabbed himself an assist.
The crushing victory for Kraken was sealed by the Canadian attacker Yanni Gourden the goal completed in the last period.
For Tolvane, the goal was also the 100th power point of his NHL career. The Finn was also chosen as the second star of the match.
Tolvanen has scored 23 points in 38 games this season. The 24-year-old forward played the previous four matches without any power points.
of Seattle From Joey Daccord became the first goaltender to keep a clean sheet in the history of Winter Classic matches. A total of 15 outdoor matches have been played over the years. Daccord blocked Kraken with the goal a total of 35 times. He was also named the first recipient of the Winter Classic MVP or Most Valuable Player award.
The goalkeeper thought the day was exceptional In an interview with NHL.com.
– The day was special for everyone, both for the players, for the city and for hockey. It was great to be a part of this event. I will never forget this. This was one of the coolest days of my life.
The victory was Seattle’s fifth in a row.
Neither team had previously played in an outdoor NHL game. Seattle joined the series for the 2021-22 season, and Vegas for the 2017-18 season.
The outdoor match was sold out. More than 47,000 supporters were watching from the spot. The NHL’s all-time record is from 2014, when Detroit met Toronto at Michigan Stadium. At that time, more than 105,000 spectators watched the match from the spot.
Special costumes
In recent years, NHL outdoor games have seen some kind of outfits worn by the players when coming to outdoor games. Kraken’s players were dressed as fishermen this year. The players also carried fish stuffed toys with them. After the match, among other things, Tolvanen threw a soft toy into the stands to the supporters.
Vegas gamblers, on the other hand, performed the singing legend Elvis Presley upon arriving at the game stage. During his career, the musician performed more than 800 times in the city of Vegas.