Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin picked Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Devils, for the same reason.
"I know for me it's New Jersey," Malkin said. "We never win in Jersey. It's not just rink, it's team too. It's hard to win."
The Penguins are 11-16-3 in 30 appearances at Prudential Center, including a 4-2 loss on Tuesday.
For U.S.-born defenseman Charlie McAvoy of the Boston Bruins, the Bell Centre, home of the archrival Montreal Canadiens, remains the litmus test for the character of a team.
"Once you get up there and stuff starts to not go your way, it can turn very quickly," said McAvoy, who's missed the past four weeks with an upper-body injury. "We had the World Junior [Championship] up there in Montreal and it was just as bad, probably even worse. I think the crowd was honestly crazier for a Canada game than it was for the Canadiens-Bruins game. It's a very cool rink and they have great fans."
Hardest rink to play in (61 votes)
Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, 15; Bell MTS Place, Winnipeg, 6; PPG Paints Arena, Pittsburgh, 6; TD Garden, Boston, 5; Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, 4; Bell Centre, Montreal, 4; SAP Center at San Jose, San Jose, 4; T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas, 3; United Center, Chicago, 3; Prudential Center, Newark, N.J., 2; Staples Center, Los Angeles, 2; Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minn., 2; American Airlines Center, Dallas, 1; Barclays Center, Brooklyn, N.Y., 1; Enterprise Center, St. Louis, 1; Madison Square Garden, New York, 1; PNC Arena, Raleigh, N.C., 1