Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Hockey with a view
After delay because of sunshine, Colorado wins outdoor game
Members of the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche line up Saturday for the national anthem on the outdoor rink at Edgewood Tahoe Resort in Stateline. Because of bright sunshine on the ice surface, the game was suspended after the first period in the interest of player safety. The teams resumed playing at 9 p.m.
STATELINE — The lights at the outdoor rink on the 18th fairway of Edgewood Tahoe Resort stayed on after hours, and the Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche had special permission to be out late.
Good thing it wasn’t a school night.
After an eight-hour delay because of poor ice conditions, the teams returned late Saturday to play the final two periods. Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon scored a goal in the second period and set up another in the third to hand the Knights a 3-2 defeat at NHL Outdoors.
Alex Tuch scored on a pretty spin move with 5:35 remaining, but the Knights dropped their second straight to Colorado after winning the opener of the four-game series.
The teams meet again Monday at Colorado.
The game was suspended after the first period with Colorado leading 1-0 on an early goal by Samuel Girard and resumed at 9 p.m. local time.
Alec Martinez put home a rebound exactly nine hours after Girard’s goal to tie the score at 7:37 of the second period, but MacKinnon answered at 11:18 to put the Avalanche ahead 2-1.
MacKinnon stole the puck from Mark Stone in the neutral zone and, after tak
ing a pass in his own zone, skated wide past Stone and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo before firing a shot past Marc-Andre Fleury.
Colorado defenseman Devon Toews gave the Avalanche a 3-1 lead when his shot from distance beat Fleury, who was screened.
The Knights finished 0-for4 on the power play and squandered a five-on-three for 1:22 in the third period with a chance to tie the score before Toews’ goal.
Earlier in the day, someone took a paintbrush to the sky over Lake Tahoe, reaching up to give it a rich coat of blue.
Boaters and kayakers dotted the shoreline, with the famously clear water framed by snow-covered mountains in the distance and nearby pine trees.
A more picturesque scene could not have been created for NHL Outdoors.
“It was such a beautiful day,” Golden Knights general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “In retrospect, probably too beautiful a day.”
The bright sun that was responsible for the stunning visual also beat down on the outdoor rink and ruined the ice surface, forcing the suspension of play.
“Sunshine has always been our enemy,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We’ve done over 30 outdoor games. This has been the most difficult weather circumstance we’ve had, and it’s a beautiful day.
“But if you look up at the sun, the cloud cover is everywhere but where the sun is. And it did a number on the ice.”
Snow fell earlier in the day, but by the opening faceoff at noon, the clouds cleared and the sun was out. Crews worked on the ice for extended periods during several of the breaks.
The area near the center ice logo endured most of the damage, causing players and officials to trip and fall on a handful of occasions throughout the first period.
“Some spots of the ice, it was a little slushy,” Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “But we were ready to go out whenever they called us back, and we kind of wanted to go back out. But it’s probably a good decision that we moved it to tonight.”
During the intermission, tarps were placed over the ice to reflect the sun, and there was more than an hour delay.
League officials met with their ice makers and representatives from both teams to discuss their options. One alternative to restarting Saturday night was to resume at 7 a.m. Sunday, according to McCrimmon.
The NHL also pushed back the start time of Sunday’s outdoor game between Boston and Philadelphia to 4:30 p.m. because the forecast called for sunlight with no cloud cover and unseasonably warm temperatures during the afternoon.
“The decision was the right one, albeit an unfortunate one,” McCrimmon said. “In hindsight, we’re grateful that no player from either team was injured as a result and hopeful for better conditions.”
The Knights were able to treat the afternoon like a game day, according to McCrimmon. That meant players returned to the hotel and took their usual naps before a pregame meal.
“Less disruptive than you might expect,” McCrimmon said. “We’re excited to get back to the rink. Unfortunate that it happened this way, but excited to play under the lights as well. I think that’s going to be pretty neat, also.”