Some might say the snow on the beach was weird, but beautiful inside loanDepot park, where Mika Zibanejad and the Rangers had a record-setting night to defeat the two-time reigning Stanley Cup champion Panthers in their outdoor debut, claiming victory in the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic to remain a perfect 6-0-0 outdoors.
* Zibanejad netted the first Winter Classic hat trick and set an outdoor record with five points – hours after being named to Team Sweden – in front of a sold-out crowd of 36,153 in Miami. That brought the total attendance at NHL outdoor games to 2,276,221 and marked the 17th sellout in as many Winter Classic contests.
* The action continues in mere hours with the first ABC Hockey Saturday as Sidney Crosby and the Penguins visit Dylan Larkin and the Red Wings for their second meeting since the calendar turned. Hockey Night in Canada will open with an Auston Matthews–Matthew Schaefer showdown and close in Vancouver, where the 2025-26 regular season will reach the exact halfway mark.
ZIBANEJAD SECURES OLYMPIC SPOT THEN SETS OUTDOOR RECORDS IN WINTER CLASSIC
Hours after being named to Team Sweden for his first Olympic Winter Games, Rangers forward Mika Zibanejad (3-2—5) scored the first hat trick in Winter Classic history and set a record for points in any outdoor game as he factored on all five New York goals to help the club surge up the standings and stay perfect outdoors.
* Zibanejad tied the Rangers record for career power-play goals with his first tally of the night and bested Jordan Kyrou’s previous benchmark for points in an outdoor game with his final goal. He also became the second player with multiple power-play goals in his outdoor career.
* Two other Rangers players tied and/or set outdoor records in Miami. Artemi Panarin tallied 2-1—3 to boost his roof-off totals to 3-4—7 (4 GP) and equal Henrik Zetterberg, Jonathan Toews and James van Riemsdyk for the most career outdoor points. Alexis Lafrenière (0-3—3) matched the NHL benchmark for most assists in an outdoor game.
* Zibanejad was presented with the Cocoa Cup, becoming the third to claim the honor presented by the NHL on TNT to the Winter Classic MVP following Joey Daccord in 2024 and Cam Fowler last season.
* The Rangers improved to a perfect 6-0-0 in NHL outdoor games, two more wins than the next closest team. They also moved to 3-0-0 in Winter Classic contests to match the Blues (3-0-0) and Bruins (3-1-0) for the most such wins.
* The Rangers (20-18-5, 45 points) surged from second-last in the Eastern Conference to within one point of the playoff bracket, overtaking four teams with their victory and moving into a tie with both the idle Penguins (18-12-9, 45 points) and Panthers (21-16-3, 45 points) in terms of points. New York also sits only two points back of a top three spot in the Metropolitan Division and three points out of second place.
WHERE SNOW MEETS SAND IS WHERE THE WINTER CLASSIC IS PLAYED
“Snowy Winter Comes to Sunny Florida” was the theme for the 2026 Discover NHL Winter Classic and it came to life in Miami on Friday night as “snow” came down inside loanDepot park as the roof opened before puck drop. On the field, the sand/snow split at center ice where fan-favorite Roberto Luongo dropped the ceremonial puck.
* The southernmost regular-season game in NHL history had an official puck-drop temperature of 63ÂşF/17ÂşC, making it the warmest Winter Classic and second-warmest temperature to start an outdoor game.
* The contrast continued into the outfield, where Latin GRAMMY Award-winning global artist Luis Fonsi and singer-songwriter Role Model performed. Surrounded by palm trees, the stage was flanked by a sandy South Florida beach – complete with pink flamingos, umbrella beach chairs, a lifeguard shack and a street hockey rink – and on the other side a snow-covered setting – where pelicans, snow-topped beach chairs, a lifeguard stand equipped with a snowplow and a synthetic ice rink spotted the scene.
* As Role Model fans know, the question to ask before his concerts is: Who is “Sally” going to be? The answer during his first-intermission was “Stanley” – accompanied by two players that helped bring him to South Florida the past two years: Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov and teammate Matthew Tkachuk, who both are out of the lineup due to injury.
* Other special moments around the Winter Classic included an appearance by NFL legend Tom Brady and a visit by Olympic gold medal winner and Rangers all-time wins leader Henrik Lundqvist to the 2026 Enterprise NHL PreGame, where Role Model also performed on NHL on TNT’s Verizon Stage.
“MIAMI VICE” LOOK MAINTAINS OUTDOOR TREND
One of the most anticipated outdoor traditions cruised down to South Florida as players from both teams dressed the part: the Panthers in their best “Miami Vice” attire – emerging from sports cars and with Seth Jones taking calls on a retro wireless phone before NHL game No. 900 – and the Rangers dressed in white from head to toe.
* Another outdoor tradition of handshakes at center ice capped the historic first in Florida as fireworks blasted off the retracted left field windows amid another “snowfall” as the voice of Dean Martin serenaded fans with the winter classic tune, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!
READY FOR MORE BEST-ON-BEST: FOUR NATIONS ANNOUNCE OLYMPIC ROSTERS
Three more rosters for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 were announced Friday, as Team USA made its unveil on TODAY – with help from Devils forward Jack Hughes – followed by Team Finland and Team Sweden.
The announcements followed Team Canada’s unveil on New Year’s Eve and brought the total number of returnees from the 4 Nations Face-Off to 77 (21 on USA, 19 on CAN, 19 on FIN and 18 on SWE).
* Jack joins his brother Quinn Hughes on Team USA after the eldest Hughes brother was named to the preliminary roster in June, alongside the likes of Matthew and Brady Tkachuk. This will be the first time since 1964 that Team USA has two sets of brothers on its Olympic squad. Click here for details.
* A Central Division rivalry will be injected with an international flare as the Stars are set to have four representatives on Team Finland while the Wild counter with four players on Team Sweden. In the five previous Olympics involving NHL players, there were nine instances of one NHL team having at least four players on the same Olympic team (including 2006 when the Stars also sent four Finns). By the Numbers and more notables are available for both Team Finland and Team Sweden.
* Follow along over the next 34 days and beyond as the #NHLStats Pack: Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 takes shape in the lead-up to the sixth Olympics involving NHL players.
QUICK CLICKS
* Bill Zito to auction panther sculptures for cancer research
* Wayne Gretzky swaps stories, reminisces ahead of Winter Classic
* Seth Jones caps ‘whirlwind’ 24 hours with 2026 Winter Classic for Panthers
* NHL in ASL captures Mika Zibanejad’s opening goal in Winter Classic
* Quinn Hughes sets Wild franchise record with four-assist outing
CROSBY LEADS PENGUINS AGAINST LARKIN AND FIRST-PLACE RED WINGS
For the second time since the calendar turned, Sidney Crosby and the Penguins will clash with Dylan Larkin and the Red Wings – with this contest marking the first ABC Hockey Saturday broadcast of the season (12 p.m. ET; also on Sportsnet and TVA Sports in Canada). It also marks Larkin’s first game since being named to the Team USA roster.
* Crosby, who takes a five-game point streak into the contest, has climbed many lists this season including overtaking Steve Yzerman on the career assists list. Crosby isn’t far behind Yzerman on the career points (25 back) and goals (44 back) lists. The only players with as many points for one franchise as Crosby (1,730) are Red Wings legends Gordie Howe (1,809) and Yzerman (1,755).
* Larkin’s fifth consecutive 20-goal season has helped the Red Wings surge to the top of the standings. They have been the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic Division for 29 game days this season, including every day since Dec. 16. This is the longest stretch the Red Wings have held first place in their division since 2011-12 (32 straight days atop the Central Division).
* The Red Wings sit atop the Eastern Conference at this stage of a season (min. 30 GP) for just the second time since 2013-14 when they realigned from the West. They topped the East on Feb. 7, 2015 thanks to a tiebreaker over the Lightning, whose GM at the time was Yzerman.
NHL SEASON OFFICIALLY HITS HALFWAY MARK DURING 13-GAME SATURDAY
The 1,312-game season will officially hit the halfway mark at the conclusion of Saturday’s 13-game slate, with game No. 656 serving as the nightcap of the Hockey Night in Canada slate (BOS at VAN).
* The first-ever meeting between No. 1 picks Auston Matthews and Matthew Schaefer highlights the Hockey Night in Canada slate, with Matthews (419) needing one goal to tie Mats Sundin (420) for the Maple Leafs’ all-time goals record. Sundin has held that distinction for more than 18 years, scoring his record-setting goal against the Islanders on Oct. 11, 2007. Click here for more on Matthews’ pursuit and here for more on Schaefer’s historic start to his NHL career.
* The #NHLStats Pack: Halfway Mark of the 2025-26 Season dials into the top trends so far, with games closer than ever before (an all-time high 78% of contests are close games) and 25 of 32 clubs having held a playoff spot at some point since Dec. 1.
NHL PODCASTS WEEKLY ROUNDUP
* 100% Hockey with Millard & Shannon (Jan. 2): Breaking Down Team USA’s Olympic Roster
* NHL Unscripted with Virk and Demers (Jan. 1): Macklin Makes Team Canada; 2026 Predictions
* NHL @TheRink (Dec. 31): Team Canada Olympic Roster Reaction, BUF Winning Streak
* 100% Hockey with Millard & Shannon (Dec. 31): Team Canada’s Olympic Hockey Roster
* La Tasse de Café LNH (Dec. 31): Le Canada dévoile sa formation pour les Jeux olympiques
* Never Offside with Julie and Cat (Dec. 30): Janet Jones Gretzky joins; Wayne cameo
* NHL Fantasy on Ice (Dec. 29): Matthew Tkachuk’s impact; Week 13 pickups
* NHL Schlagschuss (Dec. 29): Zwischenzeugnisse fĂĽr deutsche NHLer
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