The Pittsburgh Penguins will be headed outdoors this Saturday night when they face off against the Philadelphia Flyers in the Coors Light Stadium Series contest at Heinz Field in the Steel City.
The Pens are no strangers to outdoor contests, having taken part in three previous contests. Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Colby Armstrong scored in regulation, before Kris Letting and Sidney Crosby tallied in the shootout to score a 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres on January 1, 2008 at Ralph Wilson Stadium in the first Winter Classic; the Penguins welcomed the Washington Capitals to Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field on January 1, 2001, but dropped a 3-1 decision; and Soldier Field served as the backdrop for the Pen’s most recent game in the elements, a 5-1 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on March 1, 2014.
But the NHL Penguins aren’t the only antarctic birds to take to the ice outside.
Back on January 20, 2013, the Hershey Bears hosted Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the AHL Outdoor Classic at Hersheypark Stadium.
Dominik Uher dropped the gloves with his future Penguins teammate, Steve Oleksy, six minutes into the second period, before Hershey’s Tomas Kundratek beat goaltender Jeff Zatkoff to make it a 1-0 contest at 15:40 of the middle frame.
That score carried into the third period, when Zach Sill stole a puck on the near boards and fed Riley Holzapfel, who put home his 11th goal of the season to knot the score with 12:!3 left in regulation.
The game went to overtime, where Joey Mormina’s breakout pass hit a streaking Paul Thompson. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton sniper beat Dany Sabourin low on the glove side to give the Penguins a 2-1 win in front of a crowd of 17,311 fans.
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