NHL: Los Angeles ready for historic outdoor game Saturday

Los Angeles • The Los Angeles Kings and the Anaheim Ducks are skating on solid ice at Dodger Stadium.

Southern California's NHL teams held separate practices under cloudy skies in Chavez Ravine on Friday, testing the ice sheet for their landmark outdoor game.

The temperature was significantly lower than on the recent 80-degree days leading up to Saturday's meeting in the first warm-weather outdoor game in NHL history. The Los Angeles weather was practically ideal for this unlikely outdoor event — as long as no rain fell.

"This is the crown jewel for hockey in Southern California," Ducks defenseman Ben Lovejoy said. "We both live in a great part of the world, and this will be a great showcase for how far hockey has come in this area."

The rest of the preparations for the outdoor game also neared completion, including a cordon of palm trees just behind the open center-field fence. There's a ball hockey court between the mound and the backstop, while a beach volleyball court is in left field and a performance stage in right.

The boards, benches and glass were trucked in from the Winter Classic in Ann Arbor, Mich., but the ice has been built up patiently over the last 10 days. The league's ice-making crew covered the sheet in a heat-reflecting blanket during the day and worked through the night to establish a game-worthy surface.

NHL facilities guru Dan Craig's improbable ice sheet actually has been among the smoothest aspects of this strange chapter in the league's expansion of its outdoor slate this season. EASTERN CONFERENCE

Atlantic Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Boston 49 31 15 3 65 141 109

Tampa Bay 51 30 16 5 65 150 126

Montreal 51 27 19 5 59 128 129

Toronto 53 27 21 5 59 151 163

Detroit 51 23 18 10 56 131 139

Ottawa 51 22 19 10 54 144 159

Florida 51 20 24 7 47 122 154

Buffalo 49 13 29 7 33 92 142

Metropolitan Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Pittsburgh 51 36 13 2 74 168 125

N.Y. Rangers 53 27 23 3 57 132 135

Columbus 50 26 20 4 56 148 140

Philadelphia 52 25 21 6 56 141 152

New Jersey 52 22 19 11 55 124 125

Carolina 50 22 19 9 53 125 142

Washington 51 22 21 8 52 143 154

N.Y. Islanders 53 21 25 7 49 151 175

WESTERN CONFERENCE

Central Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Chicago 53 32 9 12 76 189 146

St. Louis 50 34 11 5 73 173 116

Colorado 50 32 13 5 69 147 129

Minnesota 53 28 20 5 61 127 130

Dallas 51 23 20 8 54 148 153

Nashville 53 23 22 8 54 131 158

Winnipeg 52 23 24 5 51 144 153

Pacific Division

GP W L OT Pts GF GA

Anaheim 53 38 10 5 81 179 130

San Jose 51 33 12 6 72 162 123

Los Angeles 52 29 17 6 64 132 110

Vancouver 52 26 17 9 61 130 130

Phoenix 51 24 18 9 57 147 155

Calgary 52 18 27 7 43 119 165

Edmonton 53 15 32 6 36 135 187

NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss.

Friday's games

Calgary 5, Nashville 4, SO

New Jersey 2, Washington 1

Detroit 4, Montreal 1

Colorado 3, Florida 2

Phoenix 4, Edmonton 3

Ottawa at Carolina, ppd., schedule conflict

Saturday's games

Ottawa at Carolina, 10 a.m.

St. Louis at N.Y. Islanders, 11 a.m.

Boston at Philadelphia, 11 a.m.

Washington at Montreal, 5 p.m.

Colorado at Tampa Bay, 5 p.m.

Buffalo at Columbus, 5 p.m.

Toronto at Winnipeg, 5 p.m.

Pittsburgh at Dallas, 6 p.m.

Anaheim vs. Los Angeles at L.A., 7:30 p.m.

Minnesota at San Jose, 8:30 p.m.