League statment on suspended Lightning-Devils game

Posted Jan 8, 2010 by Erik Erlendsson

Updated Jan 8, 2010 at 11:13 PM

National Hockey League Game #655 between the Tampa Bay Lightning and New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center in Newark,  N. J. tonight was postponed, until a date to be determined, due to the failure of a bank of arena lights.

    Play was stopped when the bank of lights failed with 9:12 remaining in the second period and Tampa Bay leading, 3-0. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, after consultation with the NHL Hockey Operations Department and the respective Clubs, postponed the remainder of play due to concerns for the safety of the players and officials.

    “We felt the teams could not continue playing,” said Colin Campbell, the League’s Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations. “We tried for an hour and 52 minutes to restore power and appropriate lighting but were left with no alternative but to postpone further play for the evening.”

    As the teams do not have future games scheduled against each other, a new date for the completion of the contest will have to be determined. Play will be resumed from the point at which play was stopped