The Epix original series "Road to the NHL Winter Classic" wrapped up its run on Tuesday night, profiling the New Year’s Day battle between the Chicago Blackhawks and Washington Capitals at Nationals Park.
In case you missed the game (spoiler alert: the Capitals won), we have a recap of all of the action from the fast-paced final episode of the series.
-The opening chunk of the episode was dedicated to how similarly the two teams’ games unfolded on the Monday prior to the Winter Classic. Both teams went down 3-0 early in the second period of their games, and both teams tied things up in short order. The Blackhawks did go on to win their game against the Nashville Predators (all with Joel Quenneville inventing new combinations of curse words), and the Capitals fell in overtime to the New York Islanders.
-Kind of a cool moment at Blackhawks practice before they hopped on the plane to head to Washington, D.C. Kids from local youth hockey teams came to the practice, and Patrick Sharp and Andrew Shaw each were egging the kids on, causing a lot of cheers and hoarse voices by the end of the festivities.
-Both teams got to enjoy some quality time with their families before the game, as both got to hold family skates at Nationals Park. Julianne Hough made an appearance as she skated with beau Brooks Laich, but the highlight from the Capitals’ portion was that Barry Trotz’s son Nolan, who has become arguably the best part of the series, was able to skate out on the ice with his family. Great moment there.
As for the Hawks, they got to skate with the USA Warriors again at this event (always cool to see those guys on the ice), and it was neat to see guys like Jonathan Toews greet the warriors like old friends.
-Probably the coolest part of the whole gameday portion of the episode came before the puck even dropped, as Toews and Alex Ovechkin discussed whether the game should start on time. Toews was by far the most vocal guy in the conversation, and he wanted to just get things over with instead of having to come back out and warm up again later in the day.
Local
-One of the best moments of the episode comes as Trotz and Quenneville shake hands following the game. They kid around about the number of f-bombs they’ve both dropped during the series, and Quenneville claims that he never swears…….which he then follows up with a string of profanity about the hooking call on Toews that ultimately cost the Blackhawks a power play goal at the end of the game.
Stats from the Episode (Series Totals in Parentheses)
Team Record in Games Featured:
Capitals Record: 1-0-1 (7-1-3)
Blackhawks Record: 1-1-0 (7-2-1)
Goals Scored (Game play only, not including shootout)
Capitals Goals: 6 (31)
Blackhawks Goals: 6 (26)
Road to Winter Classic Tallies:
F-Bombs: 136 (351)
