After all of the speculation, the Winter Classic between the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins will be played under the bright lights of Heinz Field several hours later than scheduled.
The NHL has officially announced that the Winter Classic will now start at 8 p.m. Eastern time instead of its regularly scheduled time of 1 p.m. due to the expectation of inclement weather in Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon.
NHL officials consulted with the Penguins, Capitals, the national broadcast partners (NBC, CBC, RDS), the Pittsburgh Steelers, the NHL Players' Association and city officials when deciding to postpone the game. The weather forecast suggests that the rain that will dampen Pittsburgh Saturday afternoon will taper off by evening hours, allowing for the game to be played.
For those attending the game, the NHL has released an updated schedule of events.
Gates to Heinz Field will now open at 5:30 p.m. (ET)
Pre-game entertainment now begins at 7:30 p.m. (ET)
Heinz Field Parking Lots will now open at 2:30 p.m. (ET)
Spectator Plaza will now open at 3 p.m. (ET)
Don't fret though, because NBC plans to fill the time slot that the Winter Classic was supposed to fill with interviews and taped coverage of previous Classic games.