Stars Use 3rd Period Rally to Beat Predators in 2020 Winter Classic

The Dallas Stars scored three unanswered goals in the third period to earn a 4-2 victory over the Nashville Predators on New Year's Day in the 2020 NHL Winter Classic at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.

Wednesday's game marked the 12th edition of the Winter Classic series, which started in 2008 when the Buffalo Sabres hosted the Pittsburgh Penguins. Dallas represented the southernmost host city for the league's annual high-profile regular-season contest.

The Stars and Predators—the latter of whom are battling on the fringe of the Western Conference playoff race at the season's midway point—were each making their first appearance in an outdoor showcase. The Chicago Blackhawks lead the NHL in Winter Classic games with four, though they've yet to win one.

Notable Game Stats

Dallas Goals: Blake Comeau, Mattias Janmark, Alexander Radulov, Andrej Sekera

Nashville Goals: Matt Duchene, Dante Fabbro

G Pekka Rinne (NSH): 31 Saves

G Ben Bishop (DAL): 30 Saves

Roman Josi Earning Place in MVP Conversation

Josi may be the NHL's most well-rounded player, and his across-the-board contributions are the biggest reason the Preds aren't in a deeper hole in the playoff race.

The 29-year-old Switzerland native is averaging nearly 25 minutes per game this season, and he's a constant presence on both the power play (3:16 per game) and penalty kill (2:13 per game).

He's not just seeing a lot of ice time, though. He's the main driver of play for Nashville every time he steps on the ice at both five-on-five and on the power play, which is why he entered the Winter Classic with a team-high 39 points, 11 more than any other player.

That point total also ranked second in the NHL among defensemen behind only the Washington Capitals' John Carlson (50). The latter benefits from playing within a high-powered Caps offense that also features Alex Ovechkin, Evgeny Kuznetsov and Nicklas Backstrom.

The Predators don't feature that type of firepower up front, and Josi's role could become bigger if his defense pair, Ryan Ellis, is forced to miss time after he took an elbow to the head from Stars winger Corey Perry, who was ejected from the game in the first period.

Nashville scored two goals on the ensuing five-minute power play. Josi assisted on both.

The Preds will likely need to make the playoffs for him to garner serious MVP consideration at season's end. Wednesday's loss leaves them four points behind the final wild-card berth in the West, though they have a few games in hand and half a season to play.

At minimum, Josi deserves a place alongside Carlson, the Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, Boston Bruins' David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, the Sabres' Jack Eichel and a handful of others in the MVP discussion during the second half of the 2019-20 campaign.

Winter Classic Remains NHL's Best Spectacle

The NHL has struck gold with the Winter Classic concept. It's become a New Year's Day staple on the American sports calendar alongside college football bowl games, a rare foray into the spotlight for hockey, which has slid firmly behind the NFL, NBA and MLB in viewership.

Here's a look at each league's number of TV viewers for its deciding championship game last season:

• NFL: 98.2 million (Super Bowl LIII)
• MLB: 23.0 million (2019 World Series Game 7)
• NBA: 18.3 million (2019 NBA Finals Game 6)
• NHL: 8.7 million (2019 Stanley Cup Final Game 7)

The Winter Classic bucks that troublesome trend. Last year's game, which saw the Bruins score a 4-2 win over the Blackhawks, drew 2.97 million viewers. That was higher than Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final (2.93 million viewers).

Not only does the event draw well for television, but it's always a hit in the local market. Tickets for this year's game in Dallas went on sale in April and all 80,000-plus of them sold out in just hours.

The crowd was heavily involved throughout the game despite the Stars playing from behind for most of the afternoon.

Now that the NHL has illustrated the event can be successfully held in a warm-weather city, there are no boundaries for the Winter Classic series.

Every year the question is asked how the league can translate the success into something bigger, but there isn't a clear answer.

The NHL added the Stadium Series in 2014 with additional outdoor games—the Los Angeles Kings and Colorado Avalanche will play at Falcon Stadium in Colorado on Feb. 15—which have attracted plenty of local hype but don't generate the same type of national attention.

After 12 years, it doesn't appear the Winter Classic will directly lead to better NHL viewership on a wide-scale basis. So the league's focus should be on trying to figure out a way to make the singular event even more of a cash cow.

Perhaps an in-season, single-elimination tournament each year to determine which team gets to host the following year's Winter Classic. It would be another chance for the league to showcase its superstars on a big stage since it has moved away from participating in the Olympics.

Regardless, Wednesday's atmosphere once again proved the Winter Classic is a special event in a league that needs more of them.

What's Next?

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced during the second intermission the Minnesota Wild have been awarded the 2021 Winter Classic at Target Field, home of MLB's Minnesota Twins.

In the short term, the Stars are back in action Friday night against the Detroit Red Wings, while the Predators return to play Saturday for a clash with the Los Angeles Kings.