ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) - A lot of winter. Very little classic hockey.
Tyler Bozak scored the winning shootout goal and Jonathan Bernier made two late saves in the at the snowy Winter Classic, lifting the Toronto Maple Leafs to a 3-2 victory over Detroit in front of the largest crowd to watch a hockey game.
The announced attendance Wednesday of 105,591 surpassed the 104,173 who saw Michigan and Michigan State skate in the same football stadium known as the Big House in 2010.
The game began with temperatures in the low teens and steady snow that didn't stop on a windy afternoon, leading to the sixth Winter Classic being much more of an event than a game.
The game-time temperate was 13 degrees with a wind chill of zero.
A slew of skaters with shovels cleared significant amounts of snow during early stoppages in play, but players still had a tough time pushing the puck through piles of the white stuff.
Detroit's Justin Abdelkader tied it 2 with 5:32 left in regulation after Bozak scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period. Daniel Alfredsson opened the scoring for the Red Wings at 13:14 of the second and James van Riemsdyk tied in on a power play with 37 seconds left in the period.