DENVER – Brad Richards has played in five outdoor games during his NHL career, with the New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks and now the Detroit Red Wings. Some have been during the afternoon. Some have been under the lights at night, like the one Richards helped the Red Wings win at Coors Field against the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday night.

So which setting does he prefer?

“I don’t know,” he said, glancing at the NHL officials standing a few feet away from his postgame interview. “I might get in trouble for saying one or the other.”

Bravely, he continued. “I seem to like the night ones. The one in New York against the Islanders was pretty cool. And tonight, the black sky comes overhead and the lights come on, it’s a pretty cool feeling.”

Also cool: Scoring the game-winning goal in the Stadium Series game with one minute remaining in a tie game, leading the Red Wings to a 5-3 win and capping a wild final 20 minutes that saw the teams combine for five of those goals.

A quick shot from the point by Niklas Kronwall found its way to Varlamov. He opted to kick it to his right, but Richards had slipped behind the entire Avalanche defense and was standing right there for the rebound.

“I got lucky that it came right to me. Kinda had a little bit of time to chip it at the goalie. I’d be lying if I told you that I tried to put it in. I tried to chip it towards the net. But we’ll take those,” he said.

His coach, Jeff Blashill, couldn’t see much beyond Richards’ celebration.

“He found a way to get the puck up and over him. It’s weird. It’s a little bit of a hard game for the goalies. Both of them were good, but pucks seem to bounce just a little bit more. We just tried to keep getting pucks to the net, get them from the side like that,” he said.

“When you play in a game like this, you have to be prepared for weird stuff to happen.”

There was some weirdness, for sure. What started as a balmy 65-degree night got progressively colder and much windier, to the point where the fake cotton snow that was placed around the rink began flying through the air.

“It looked like it was all going to come on the ice, but the wind was swirling so much very little of it did,” said Richards.

Was the wind at all a hindrance?

“You’d have to ask the faster skaters how the wind was affecting them,” said Richards. “I was the same speed all night."

Forgive the “old guy” jokes from the 35-year-old Richards. The entire weekend in Denver was steeped in nostalgia, highlighting the blood feud between the Red Wings and Avalanche from the 1990s. Richards used to watch those games growing up, marveling at the Hall of Fame talent on both sides and the intensity of the rivalry.

So with many of those legends watching among the 50,095 at Coors Field, Richards put the Wings ahead for good.

Beating the Avalanche. Winning under the lights.

“The night’s pretty special,” said Richards. “They’re all special. Especially the ones you win.”

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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