Fenway shines in Bruins' Winter Classic victory

BOSTON, MA -- On a day when Fenway Park is usually hibernating for the winter, it instead played host to hockey's jewel event as the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins squared off. For the first time since 2010, the NHL's Winter Classic returned to the Major League's oldest and most venerated stadium as 39,243 delirious fans decked out in black-and-gold cheered as Boston defeated Pittsburgh, 2-1, behind two goals from winger Jake DeBrusk.

The rink was shifted from the last time the event was held within Fenway's confines, giving the Green Monster plenty of screen-time as the star attraction. Yes, the manually operated scoreboard was in action and even the AL East standings were updated with the NHL's Atlantic Division. (Look away, Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens fans. The Fenway scoreboard could not accommodate your places in the cellar of the division.)

The marriage between baseball and hockey played out before the game even started, with players and coaches on both teams talking about what an honor it was to even be out on the Fenway Park field.

"We had the privilege to usually go to one game a year when we were kids in Fenway and I remember those events like they were yesterday," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, who grew up in Massachusetts as a diehard Red Sox fan, said after Sunday's practice. "I still get chills when I walk into Fenway Park when I take my kids to this day. It's just a really unique place. For someone like myself, that's grown up in this area and can appreciate this type of the stadium and being a Red Sox fan, it has extra meaning to me personally."

"If you’re in the moment, it’s OK to embrace the fact that we’re at Fenway Park," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said. "This is a wonderful event and we’re very lucky to be part of it."

The Bruins and Penguins both donned baseball uniforms for their arrival to the park, with Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith -- who had a special mask made for the game -- even putting on the catcher's gear for the walk over to the park:

When the Bruins arrived, they took the field for a quick game of catch to warm up:

"We all kind of jumped at the idea," Bruins center Charlie Coyle -- who grew up in Weymouth, Mass., -- said about the uniforms. "The experience was going to happen here, so it fit well. Hopefully we wore it well and represented the old Sox the best we could. I played baseball -- Little League, Babe Ruth -- a little bit growing up. It wasn’t really my sport, so it felt weird to put on [the Red Sox uni]. This uniform was a little baggier than the one I wore when I was younger, but hopefully everyone liked it."

Coyle had actually attended the Winter Classic the last time the Bruins hosted, sitting up in the Monster seats ahead of Boston's victory. It was a little different from ice level.

"Of course it’s a little different when you’re on the other side of it," Coyle said. "Both sides are pretty fun to be a part of. You want to win. At the end of the day, it’s another hockey game, it’s two points. ... The fans come support us every time whether it’s at the Garden or Fenway Park.”

Linus Ullmark, the Bruins goaltender who stopped 26 shots in the B's victory, loved the outfit so much he even came out for the postgame interview dressed in the full uniform.

After admitting that his history with baseball is "zero, I've got none," the Swedish puckstopper showed off the special 1950s cleats he sourced for the day by putting them up on the table.

"I thought it was a cool idea. I like to dress up for special occasions. I was lucky enough to find a pair of cleats from the ‘50s. Yeah, watch out," Ullmark said before revealing the sharpened spikes. "It was a lot of fun when we came together and we had a vague idea of what [the uniforms were] going to be like. But yesterday, when we actually got the gift in front of us, it was mind-blowing. I loved every second of it.”

Former Red Sox Jason Varitek and Tim Wakefield were joined before the game by Bruins greats Johnny Bucyk, Bobby Orr and Zdeno Chara, with Orr flipping a wrist shot to Varitek for the ceremonial "puck pitch."

The game featured plenty of baseball touches, as well: Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" was played to the Boston faithful by the Boston Pops -- don't worry, the fans provided all the "Bom Bom Boms" -- while a slightly modified version of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" was sung by Bruins anthem singer Todd Angilly in the middle of the third period.

"I was trying my best to stay in the moment, not get caught looking around too much. Hard to do, right?" Coyle said. "You don’t grow up thinking you’re going to play a hockey game in Fenway Park. A few baseball games, few different concerts which I have [attended], but to play hockey in there was really special, it really was. We’re all going to wish we could do that over and over again, but you never know when the next turn is, or if there is one."

With the Bruins trailing, 1-0, into the third period, it looked like many of the Boston fans in attendance would go home with a great experience but a loss in the standings. But then DeBrusk showed up.

Though the Penguins lost, Sullivan knows that an event like this in a stadium like Fenway Park is too big for just two points in the standings.

"I think sports have a unique ability to bring people together and families together," Sullivan said before the game. "They rally around their respective teams and you live and die with your teams. This, for me, is kind of a culmination of that with baseball and hockey, two of the loves in my family's life. And so to be able to experience this at Fenway Park is something special."