On Friday night, with nine minutes and twelve seconds remaining in the second period of the Devils-Lightning game at the Prudential Center, a circuit breaker went down and the lights on one side of the arena went out. They stayed out, too, and for the first time in more than four years, the NHL had to suspend one of its games. (The last time — when Detroit’s Jiri Fischer had a seizure on the bench during a game — was under far scarier circumstances.) Not that they didn’t try to avoid this: The Devils turned the LED scoreboards to a solid white image to provide more light, but that apparently created too much of a shadow on the ice. And while playing under such conditions may have made for a pretty interesting product, it probably would have gotten a goalie or two killed.
Anyway, the Devils paid their electric bill, and the game continued yesterday while you were watching the Cardinals and Packers not play defense. About 3,000 people were in the building, including two new linesmen and two different players in the Lightning lineup. Those 3,000 fans didn’t have much to cheer for, though: The Devils were trailing 3–0 when the darkness hit, and Travis Zajac’s goal eight minutes and 38 seconds into the third period was matched just over a minute later by Steven Stamkos. Final score: 4–2 Lightning. Unofficial time of game: 48 hours, seven minutes.