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TAMPA, Fla. – The NHL <\/a>Stadium Series game between the Lightning <\/a>and Bruins takes place this Sunday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa<\/a>. Opening ceremonies are slated for 6:30 p.m., but fans are encouraged to arrive much earlier to take in the full experience.<\/p>\n What fans need to know:<\/p>\n Pregame fan festivities are scheduled to begin in the early afternoon, with the NHL fan festival opening at 1 p.m. in Lot 5 and 6 for ticketed fans.<\/p>\n MORE NEWS: Venice woman arrested in illegal gambling operation at arcade, 66 slot machines seized: SCSO<\/a><\/p>\n Parking lots will open at 12:30 p.m. and stadium gates open at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n Country legend Tim McGraw will perform during the first intermission and artist Hunter Hayes will sing the national anthem.<\/p>\n Where to watch on TV:<\/p>\n Fans watching from home can catch the game live on ESPN. The broadcast will also be available for streaming on ESPN+. Canadian viewers can watch on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.<\/p>\n Dig deeper:<\/p>\n Pulling off an outdoor hockey game in a tropical city is no small feat. The NHL has hosted numerous outdoor games over the last two decades, but bringing one to an outdoor football stadium in a tropical city took years of careful planning.<\/p>\n The league has spent the entire week building the ice surface inside a massive, perfectly climate-controlled, 70-yard tent inside Raymond James Stadium. That tent will be removed early on Sunday.<\/p>\n Colder than expected temperatures have aided the ice-making process this week, and plummeting temperatures on game day should ensure pristine rink conditions. Temperatures in the 40s are currently forecast for puck drop.<\/p>\n Fans are lucking out on more than just the spectacle.<\/p>\n READ MORE: Tampa Bay Lightning to stay at Benchmark Arena through 2043<\/a><\/p>\n Not only is this the first outdoor NHL game of its kind in Tampa, it also features two teams that have been red-hot lately. The Bruins and Lightning enter the Stadium Series as two of the league\u2019s top contenders, each tallying a league-best 11 wins in January.<\/p>\n Gasparilla takeover:<\/p>\n Earlier this week, the NHL revealed a Gasparilla<\/a>-inspired treasure map theme that will surround the rink inside Raymond James Stadium.<\/p>\n Fans will spot plenty of Tampa-specific Easter eggs worked into the artwork, including references like “Brayden\u2019s Point of No Return” and “Kucherov Cove.”<\/p>\n READ: Gasparilla invasion route shifted due to wind forecast<\/a><\/p>\n And it goes well beyond the ice.<\/p>\n The league says it is bringing in Gasparilla floats, boats, cannons and even changing out the rigging on the Buccaneers\u2019 iconic pirate ship. Crews are also building a full shipwreck on the field as part of the immersive theme.<\/p>\n Where to get tickets:<\/p>\n While the game is officially sold out, tickets can be found on secondary markets.<\/p>\n For more information about the game, visit here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Source: Information in this article comes from the NHL, league interviews and on-site preparations at Raymond James Stadium.\u00a0<\/p>\n Tampa<\/a>Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a>NHL<\/a>Gasparilla Pirate Invasion<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. – The NHL Stadium Series game between the Lightning and Bruins takes place this Sunday at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":137845,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[47,31383,629,9662,5691,110,135,137,136,628],"class_list":{"0":"post-137844","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tampa","8":"tag-fl","9":"tag-gasparilla","10":"tag-hillsborough","11":"tag-lightning","12":"tag-nhl","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-tampa","15":"tag-tampa-headlines","16":"tag-tampa-news","17":"tag-us"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=137844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/137845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=137844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=137844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=137844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/vlcsnap-2026-01-30-11h38m59s176.png\")
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