When the Stadium Series game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Boston Bruins is played Monday night, 25 costumed pirates will patrol Raymond James Stadium in Tampa. That in Tampa’s Gasparilla tradition, the great and since 1904 traditional pirate festival based on the legend of how the city was invaded by pirates led by the mythical José Gaspar. The 2026 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series, will be the first outdoor NHL game in a completely open football arena, everyday home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in the state of Florida.
Country star Tim McGraw, who provides the first halftime entertainment, has won three Grammys and the Buccaneers and Lightning have combined for five Super Bowl (2) and Stanley Cup (3) championship titles.
25 pirates, three Grammys and five titles, are some of the many numbers that the NHL’s statistics department produced before the game.
Here are a few more:
1: Tampa goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy’s GAA ranking: Vasilevskiy has allowed 2.04 goals per game through the first 34 games of 2025-26. His 92.0 save percentage is also best in the league.
3: The number of Lightning players among the top 25 scorers (as of January 31). Nikita Kucherov (27 goals), Brandon Hagel (25) and Jake Guentzel (24). Kucherov is also second in the NHL with 55 assists, and his 82 points are third in the league.
5: The number of victories for Tampa defenseman Ryan McDonagh in NHL outdoor games. McDonagh has never lost a game under the open sky. No other player or leader is nearby.
