By: Ryan Jainchill | Follow me on Twitter / X @Jainchill_Ryan
The National Hockey League announced today that the Boston Bruins will take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Feb. 1, 2026, in the 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union Stadium Series from Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This will mark the sixth time the Bruins will play in an outdoor game in their century-long existence and the second time they will be the visitor for such an event.
This will be the Bruins’ first appearance in a Stadium Series game. Four of their five prior outdoor games were part of the NHL’s Winter Classic; the other was the NHL Outdoors game at Lake Tahoe in 2021. The Bruins have a 4-1 outdoor record, going 3-1 in NHL Winter Classics and 1-0 in the NHL Outdoors game.
The Bruins were victorious in their first outdoor game, a 2-1 overtime victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on New Year’s Day in 2010 from Fenway Park. In the 2016 version of the New Year’s spectacle, the Bruins suffered their lone defeat outdoors, a 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. Since then, the Bruins were victorious in their next two NHL Winter Classics, defeating the Chicago Blackhawks from Notre Dame Stadium in 2019 and the Pittsburgh Penguins from Fenway Park in 2023. In the NHL Outdoors game in 2021, the Bruins defeated the Flyers from the Edgewood Tahoe Resort in Stateline, Nevada.
“The Bruins organization takes pride in being selected to participate in one of the National Hockey League’s marquee events,” said Bruins President Cam Neely in a press release from the team this afternoon. “Similar to the NHL Winter Classics at Fenway Park, Gillette Stadium, and Notre Dame Stadium and the NHL Outdoors Game in Lake Tahoe, the 2026 Stadium Series in Tampa will be a meaningful opportunity for our players and entire organization to showcase the game of hockey on a grand scale. All of us at the Bruins, as well as our passionate fanbase, are excited for what will be yet another incredible experience at Raymond James Stadium next February.”
This matchup with Tampa Bay will be the first time these two teams meet outdoors and the first time the Lightning have hosted an outdoor game. In their lone outdoor game, the Lightning defeated the Nashville Predators 3-2 in the 2022 Stadium Series game from Nissan Stadium in Nashville. Raymond James Stadium, which opened in 1998, has hosted three Super Bowls and will now add an outdoor NHL game to its resume.
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