COMEBACK WINS BECOMING AN OUTDOOR STAPLE

More than half of the League’s 29 outdoor games have featured a comeback win (15 of 29, 51.7%), including each of the last four (Jets: 2019 Heritage Classic vs. CGY, Flyers: 2019 Stadium Series vs. PIT, Bruins: 2019 Winter Classic vs. CHI).

The Stars recorded the sixth multi-goal comeback win in an NHL outdoor game and became the seventh team to overcome a third-period deficit (of any margin) to win outdoors.

COTTON BOWL FILLED WITH GREEN AND GOLD

The sellout crowd at Cotton Bowl Stadium of 85,630 ranks as the second-largest for an NHL game in the League's 102-year history. It eclipsed the former no. 2 (76,126), set on New Year's Day a year ago in the 2019 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic between the Boston Bruins and Chicago Blackhawks at Notre Dame Stadium. The biggest crowd in NHL history remains the 105,491 that packed Michigan Stadium for the 2014 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Cotton Bowl crowd pushed the overall attendance for the NHL’s 29 regular-season outdoor games over the 1.5-million mark. The total of 1,578,507 represents an average of 54,431 per game.

WARMEST WINTER CLASSIC ON RECORD

The start time temperature of 54.9 Fahrenheit/12.7 Celsius at Cotton Bowl Stadium marked the warmest ever for a Winter Classic game and the fourth-warmest for an NHL regular-season outdoor game. The highest temperature recorded at puck drop for an NHL regular-season outdoor game was 65°F/18°C, in Denver, Colo., for the 2016 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series at Coors Field (DET 5 at COL 3).

PREDATORS' JOSI EXTENDS POINT STREAK

Predators defenseman Roman Josi recorded an assist on both Nashville goals, extending his career-high point streak to eight games (7-8--15) and becoming the first defenseman in franchise history to reach the 40-point mark in a season in fewer than 40 games. Josi's eight-game streak matches that of Bruins forward David Pastrnak (3-10—13) as the longest active run in the League.

Josi has 14-27—41 through 39 games this season to lead the Predators in goals (tied), assists and points. He is the only defenseman to lead his team in each of those categories in 2019-20; eight other blueliners sit atop their team in at least one of those stats, with Washington’s John Carlson (13-37—50 in 40 GP) the only other blueliner to pace his club in at least two of those categories (assists and points).

STARS' BOWNESS SETS FIVE-DECADE COACHING MILESTONE

Dallas Stars interim head coach Rick Bowness became just the third coach in NHL history to have held a head coaching position in five different decades, joining Hockey Hall of Fame Honored Members Pat Quinn and Scotty Bowman.

Bowness served as the bench boss during the 1980's (Winnipeg), 1990's (Boston, Ottawa, New York Islanders), 2000's (Phoenix), 2010's (Dallas) and 2020's (Dallas). Quinn served as head coach during the 1970's (Philadelphia), 1980's (Philadelphia, Los Angeles), 1990's (Vancouver, Toronto), 2000's (Toronto, Edmonton) and 2010's (Edmonton), while Bowman was behind the bench as head coach during the 1960's (St. Louis), 1970's (St. Louis, Montreal, Buffalo), 1980's (Buffalo), 1990's (Pittsburgh, Detroit), 2000's (Detroit).

Only two other coaches have served behind the bench for four decades, Jacques Lemaire and Jacques Martin.

WINTER CLASSIC QUICK HITS

* The Stars and Predators made their outdoor game debut, becoming the 24th and 25th NHL teams to take part in one of the marquee dates on the NHL calendar.

* There have been 29 total regular-season outdoor NHL games to date: 12 Winter Classics, 10 Stadium Series, five Heritage Classics, one Centennial Classic and one NHL100 Classic.

* Eighteen outdoor games have taken place at football venues, 10 have been hosted by baseball parks and one has been staged in a soccer stadium.

* Home teams evened their outdoor game record at 13-13-3 overall, including an 8-1-1 mark in their last 10. Road teams fell to 16-9-4.

* Predators head coach Peter Laviolette made his third appearance as head coach in an NHL regular-season outdoor game, following trips with the Philadelphia Flyers to the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic in 2010 (Fenway Park, PHI 1 at BOS 2, OT) and 2012 (Citizens Bank Park, NYR 3 at PHI 2). Laviolette became the fourth head coach with at least three such appearances, joining Joel Quenneville (five), Mike Babcock (four), Claude Julien (four) and Alain Vigneault (three).

* The Stars posted their second comeback win over Nashville in as many outings this season. In the teams' first meeting, on Dec. 14, the Stars spotted the Predators a 1-0 lead but tallied four unanswered goals in the second period for a 4-1 victory at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Blake Comeau, Roope Hintz, Jamie Oleksiak and Andrew Cogliano scored, Alexander Radulov notched two assists and Anton Khudobin made 37 saves for the winners. The teams will play each other two more times in 2019-20: a home-and-home series March 5 at Nashville and March 7 at Dallas.

* The Stars are tied for second in the League with 47 points since Oct. 19, posting the second-most wins in that span (22-7-3) after winning only one of their first nine games to begin 2019-20 (1-7-1).

* The Predators’ defense corps combined for three points (Roman Josi 0-2--2; Dante Fabbro 1-0--1), lifting the group's season total to 106. Ranking among the top five highest-scoring defenses in each of the previous five campaigns – including first-place finishes in 2015-16 and 2017-18 -- Nashville currently ranks second in the League, three behind the League-leading New York Rangers.

* Stars forward Denis Gurianov attempted the fourth penalty shot in an NHL regular-season outdoor game, stopped by Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne at 8:38 of the first period. The only player to successfully convert a penalty shot outdoors was Rangers forward Derek Stepan, who scored against Devils goaltender Cory Schneider at Yankee Stadium on Jan. 26, 2014.

* The Stars hit the halfway mark of the 2019-20 season on a 100-point pace, improving to 23-14-4 for 50 points and third place in the Central Division. The Predators fell to 18-15-6 for 42 points in 39 games, sixth place in the Central but holding games in hand on every Western Conference team.