Panthers and Rangers play outdoor hockey game in Miami, replete with snow and fire

MIAMI (AP) — There was snow. There was fire. And after years of planning, there was hockey on a baseball field in Miami.

The Florida Panthers and New York Rangers dropped the puck Friday night in the 44th outdoor game in NHL history. It was the first for Florida, which has won the last two Stanley Cup titles.

And this Winter Classic wasn't the warmest outdoor game ever: It was 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 Celsius) outside when the windows behind what usually is left field began opening at 8:04 p.m., under a calm and clear sky.

That made it the second-warmest outdoor game in league history, 2 degrees cooler than the 65-degree air on Feb. 27, 2016, when Detroit beat Colorado at Denver's Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies. It was 1 degree warmer than the game on Jan. 25, 2014, when Anaheim beat Los Angeles 3-0 at Dodger Stadium.

The game-time temperature was initially announced inside the stadium as 61 degrees, before the NHL later said it was 63.

The Rangers — with a snow effect around their walkway — were called to the ice at 8:13 p.m. The Panthers — as fire shot skyward along their path — came out about a minute later. And that's about when snowflakes began falling from the top of the stadium, as the roof continued opening.

There was another celebration before faceoff, when Rangers and Panthers players who will be part of the U.S. Olympic hockey team at the Milan Cortina Games next month were introduced. Panthers defenseman Seth Jones made the team earlier Friday, as did injured Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk.

Tkachuk placed an American flag over Jones' shoulders and the crowd roared.

It was a spectacle, as expected. The Rangers showed up in all-white outfits, as if it was a beach day. The Panthers came with a “Miami Vice” theme, wearing white suits, pastel shirts and even showing up in Ferraris instead of a bus.

“If you would have asked me 25 years ago ... this might be the last place that I thought it would take place,” Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said. “So, I just think it speaks volumes for technology and its advancements and the ability to put a sheet of ice down in this type of environment.”

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Florida Panthers goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky (72) blocks a shot attempt by the New York Rangers during the first period of the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin (31) watches the puck during the first period of the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game against the Florida Panthers, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Fireworks explode over loanDepot Park before the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game between the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

New York Rangers and Florida Panthers players warm up before the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Players warm up before the NHL Winter Classic outdoor hockey game between the Florida Panthers and the New York Rangers, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Miami. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Retired professional baseball player Lenny Dykstra faces charges after Pennsylvania State Police said a trooper found drugs and paraphernalia in his possession during a traffic stop on New Year's Day.

Dykstra, 62, was a passenger when the vehicle was pulled over by a trooper with the Blooming Grove patrol unit in Pike County, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) east of Scranton, where Dykstra lives.

Police said in a statement that charges will be filed but did not specify what they may be or what drugs were allegedly involved.

Matthew Blit, Dykstra’s lawyer, said in a statement that the vehicle did not belong to Dykstra and he was not accused of being under the influence of a substance at the scene.

“To the extent charges are brought against him, they will be swiftly absolved,” Blit said.

Dykstra's gritty style of play over a long career with the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies earned him the nickname “Nails.” He spent years as a businessman before running into a series of legal woes.

Dykstra served time in a California prison for bankruptcy fraud, sentenced to more than six months for hiding baseball gloves and other items from his playing days. That ran concurrent with a three-year sentence for pleading no contest to grand theft auto and providing a false financial statement. He claimed he owed more than $31 million and had only $50,000 in assets.

In April 2012, Dykstra pleaded no contest to exposing himself to women he met through Craigslist.

In 2019, Dykstra pleaded guilty on behalf of his company, Titan Equity Group, to illegally renting out rooms in a New Jersey house that it owned. He agreed to pay about $3,000 in fines.

That same year a judge dropped drug and terroristic threat charges against Dykstra after an altercation with an Uber driver. Police said they found cocaine, MDMA and marijuana among his belongings. Dykstra's lawyer called that incident “overblown” and said he was innocent.

And in 2020 a New York Supreme Court judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit that Dykstra filed against former Mets teammate Ron Darling over his allegation that Dykstra made racist remarks toward an opponent during the 1986 World Series.

Justice Robert D. Kalish said Dykstra’s reputation “for unsportsmanlike conduct and bigotry” had already been so tarnished that it could not be damaged further.

“Based on the papers submitted on this motion, prior to the publication of the book, Dykstra was infamous for being, among other things, racist, misogynist, and anti-gay, as well as a sexual predator, a drug-abuser, a thief, and an embezzler,” Kalish wrote.

FILE - Former baseball player Lenny Dykstra sits during his sentencing for grand theft auto in Los Angeles, on Dec. 3, 2012. (AP Photo/Nick Ut, File)