In 14th NHL season, Stadium Series worth the wait for Stamkos

NASHVILLE -- Steven Stamkos waited 14 seasons to play in his first NHL outdoor game, so the Tampa Bay Lightning captain figured he might as well make the most of the experience.

Stamkos scored a goal and had two assists to lead the Lightning to a 3-2 victory against the Nashville Predators in the 2022 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series at Nissan Stadium on Saturday.
"It was kind of extra special to have a big game personally, but we wanted to come in here and get the win and I was super happy with the effort we had tonight," Stamkos said. "It lived up to all the hype that you hear from some of the guys who have played in these games. You never understand it until you play in one yourself, so it's nice to say we have that experience now."
After getting the secondary assist on power-play goals by Brayden Point (58 seconds) and Nikita Kucherov (6:18) in the second period, Stamkos scored with 8:29 left in the third to increase Tampa Bay's lead to 3-1. The forward took a feed from defenseman Cal Foote and unleashed a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle that went in off the right pad of Predators goalie Juuse Saros on the short side.
His 25th goal of the season turned out to be the winner one after Filip Forsberg scored a power-play goal with 7:31 remaining to bring Nashville within 3-2. Stamkos finished with five shots on goal and nine shot attempts.
"He looked good tonight. He looked really good," Lightning forward Pat Maroon said. "I told him to keep shooting because one is going to go in. I don't know how many backdoor shots he could have had tonight, but finally he got one."

Stamkos played in 890 NHL regular-season games before Saturday, which was the second most among active players before playing in an NHL outdoor game behind Joe Thornton, who played in 1,263 regular-season games before playing with the San Jose Sharks in the 2015 NHL Stadium Series. Stamkos made his night a memorable one by having a hand in all three Tampa Bay goals.
The 32-year-old is the third NHL player to factor in on each of his team's first three outdoor game goals, following Steve Staios with the Edmonton Oilers in the 2003 NHL Heritage Classic and Martin Havlat with the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2009 NHL Winter Classic.
"Any time you can help the team win, it's great," Stamkos said. "But when you do it in a stage like this, it was a long time coming. I hadn't had a chance to do this, I played a lot of years in this league and I'm just proud to put that jersey on, go out there and represent our city in Tampa."
The Lightning know well what it's like to play in big games, having won the Stanley Cup the past two seasons. But playing in the NHL Stadium Series was a first for the organization and they wanted to make it special.
Stamkos played a big role in all of it, from his three-point game to his idea that the Lightning players wear Canadian tuxedos, featuring denim jeans, shirts and jackets, and cowboy hats to the game. But winning was most important.
"We go from last night to have a really fun practice, have all the families on the ice, even this morning having breakfast with your family and the kids," Stamkos said. "And then you get to the rink and this team really has that ability to just flip that switch and say, 'OK, it's game on now. Let's go out there and do our thing.'
"I thought, to be honest, this was a great game. Both teams played great. But it was one of our solid, 60-minute efforts that we've had this year and, on that stage, I'm just proud of the group."