2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic

By: Darryl Young
*UPDATED WITH GAME ANALYSIS BELOW* 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ru/1/17/NHL_winter_classic_2015_logo.png

With two scorching hot teams in the Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals, this year’s Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic should be a spectacle. It has a lot to measure up to with the show put on by the Red Wings and the Leafs last year. The Leafs, being the first Canadian team in a Winter Classic, playing Original Six rival Red Wings in the ‘the Big House’ attracted lots of attention. Now in Nationals Park, only a seven-year old stadium and a matchup that isn’t against long-time rivals it has received a lot less hype than in previous years. That said, with high calibre players such as Alex Ovechkin and Jonathan Toews, this should be a great game.

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Keys to the Outdoors

Great Goaltending

With so many stars on the ice, the goalies are going to have to make big saves. For the Chicago Blackhawks, Corey Crawford, just off an OT win against Nashville with 36 saves will have to be good against the hot duo of Ovechkin and Backstrom. For the Washington Capitals, Braden Holtby is coming of an OT loss to the Islanders where he had a stellar 35 save performance. Can they put up similar numbers in Nationals Park?

Keep it Simple

Conditions on the ice are sub-par with the game being outdoors and warm in Washington leading up to this game. The stars on both sides, especially Ovechkin and Patrick Kane, will have to ensure they don’t get too fancy in order to get good scoring chances.

The Crowd

There’s a lot of hype in Washington about the Winter Classic however there is little about it in Chicago. With this being the Caps 40th season and in their own backyard, this game means a lot to them and their fans. Like any Verizon Center game, they want to use the hype of that crowd to fire them up. Chicago on the other hand will want to take the crowd out of it right away by scoring early.

These are your Keys to the Outdoors. For videos check out the following links:

Must Watch NHL Winter Classic 2015: http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=632216
National Park Time Lapse: http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=702275
Epix Road to the Winter Classic: Make-A-Wish Skate: http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=102037

Game Recap

A beautiful day in Washington D.C. to play the great game of hockey on an NHL sized pond. The Chicago Blackhawks and the Washington Capitals played in this year’s 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic. The weather conditions fitting for the show except for the sun and the shadows in the first period. Instead of keeping the fans waiting captains, Jonathan Toews and Alexander Ovechkin decided to switch ends halfway through the first period in order to make it fair for both goaltenders.

The first period seemed the toughest for both teams with pucks coming in and out of the shadows. The Great 8 almost got hit in the chin by a pass by his own teammate. The Capitals scored twice in the first to jump to a 2-0 lead. Eric Fehr came in on a breakaway after the puck hopped over Seabrook’s stick and skillfully deked around Crawford, notching the first goal of the game. He seems to always put on a show in the Winter Classic after his 2011 performance against the Pittsburgh Penguins where he scored 2 goals, one being the game winner. The next goal was scored by Alexander Ovechkin. The puck just seemed to follow the great goal scorer as it went right off Crawford’s pads to Ovechkin and he shot it into the empty net. Crawford was sharp the rest of the period keeping the score at two. However when Backstrom went to the box for holding Toews, Chicago’s power play went to work. It only needed a couple of seconds as Sharp shot the puck from the sun into the shadows fooling Holtby who had been so good.

The second period was a lot quieter than the first. The only goal scored was early in the period off a bad bounce from the boards where Hossa picked up the puck, passed it to Toews and then passed it to Saad for an open net goal to tie the game. Then the Capitals killed off a 5-on-3 to keep the score tied with only one shot on Holtby.

The game remained scoreless for most of the period. It seemed that it was destined for overtime. That was until Ovechkin skated the puck into the Chicago zone. His stick was slashed out of his hands and the puck went directly to Troy Brouwer who spun a shot the puck passed Crawford with 12.9 seconds left. It was quite a dramatic finish to 2015 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic

Videos of recap

Fehr’s Goal http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hdpid=35&intcmpid=nav-video-main

Ovechkin’s Goal http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hdpid=35&intcmpid=nav-video-main

Sharps Goal http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hdpid=35&intcmpid=nav-video-main

Saad’s Goal http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hdpid=35&intcmpid=nav-video-main

Brower’s Goal http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?hdpid=35&intcmpid=nav-video-main