MetLife Stadium is getting an NHL Outdoor Doubleheader of sorts

Outdoor NHL hockey will make its debut in New Jersey next year, when MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford will host a four-team doubleheader of sorts in the league’s so-called Stadium Series.

The New Jersey Devils will play the Philadelphia Flyers on the night of Saturday, Feb. 17, and the Islanders will play the Rangers on the same ice the next day, the National Hockey League announced on Saturday.

The league said it expects more than 75,000 spectators per game, continuing its run of 37 consecutive regular-season outdoor playouts that began in their modern form in 2003.

“It’s a great NFL stadium and our goal is to bring it to life in a way that, quite frankly, we haven’t seen much,” said Steve Mayer, NHL chief content officer. “We’re going to get super creative and highlight the area.”

Mayer and Dean Matsuzaki, the league’s executive vice president for events, said they had long hoped to host an outdoor game at MetLife Stadium. But they said the logistics there are more complicated than many other stadiums because it’s home to two NFL teams, the Giants and the Jets, and there’s less time to access the facilities for prep. But they noted that the size of the venue allows it to accommodate four teams, with scheduled practice time and recreational ice time with their families, for all four teams.

The teams will be eliminated the following Monday in case inclement weather postpones one or both games over the weekend. The exact seating capacity depends on the construction of the lower seating area planned in preparation for the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup.

In 2014, the Rangers played the Devils and the Islanders three days apart at Yankee Stadium. Each game attracted approximately 50,000 fans. The largest NHL regular season outdoor game was held at Michigan Stadium in 2014, when an announced crowd of 105,491 fans watched the Detroit Red Wings play against the Toronto Maple Leafs. The last outdoor game in the New York area was the Winter Classic on a frigid New Year’s Day in 2018 between the Rangers and the Buffalo Sabers at Citi Field, when 41,000 fans endured temperatures that started at 7 degrees Fahrenheit in the morning and peaked at 25.

Mayer said organizers hope to bolster next year’s event with additional entertainment, youth hockey games and music. Asked if they would look for New Jersey residents like Jon Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen to perform, Mayer asked a reporter if he had Springsteen’s phone number, adding with a laugh, “We’d like to speak to him immediately. “