The Boston Bruins will host the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 2023 NHL Winter Classic on Monday, Jan. 2 at Fenway Park, the league announced on Wednesday. This will be the 15th anniversary of the event, and only the second game at Fenway Park, which is typically the home of the Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball team.
The Bruins have played in three Winter Classics — 2010, 2016 and 2019 — and hold a 2-1 record in them. They hosted their first one in 2010 against the Philadelphia Flyers. Boston won that one with a 2-1 result in overtime. The Bruins only Winter Classic blemish happened in the hands of the Montreal Canadiens in 2016 at Gillette Stadium with a 5-1 loss. In 2019, Boston registered a 4-2 win against the Chicago Blackhawks at Notre Dame Stadium.
Overall this will be the Bruins’ fifth NHL outdoor game. They took a 7-3 victory over the Flyers in the 2021 NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe at Edgewood Resort.
Pittsburg has had more mixed results when leaving the comforts of the indoors. The Penguins won the very first Winter Classic in 2008 with a 2-1 shootout victory over the Buffalo Sabres at what is now Highmark Stadium. However, Pittsburgh is 2-2-1 in regular-season outdoor games since then. The Penguins’ last event resulted in a 4-3 overtime loss against Philadelphia in the 2019 NHL Stadium Series played at Lincoln Financial Field.
Boston and Pittsburgh have never faced each other outdoors, but they have played in 219 regular season games. The Bruins hold an 89-win advantage in the regular season series. They’ve also met five times in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, with Boston winning three of those series.
