Winter Classic: Bruce Minneapolis Wild Wild 6-4 at Target Field, the coldest outdoor game in league history

Winter Classic: Bruce Minneapolis Wild Wild 6-4 at Target Field, the coldest outdoor game in league history. (CNN) St. Louis Bruce officially defeated Minnesota Wild 6-4 on Saturday night in the 2022 National Hockey League (NHL) Winter Classic at Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota, becoming the coldest outdoor game in league history.

Winter Classic: Bruce Minneapolis Wild Wild 6-4 at Target Field, the coldest outdoor game in league history

In their negative 20s, according to Wind Chill NHL, the temperature during the pack drop was -6 degrees Celsius, dropping to -10 degrees Celsius as the game progressed.

Prior to tonight's match, the coldest match in league history was the 2003 Heritage Classic, the first outdoor match between the Edmonton Oilers and the Montreal Canadians at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton. It was the pack drop 0 degrees.

Before the game, the NHL said the ice needed to be heated. "When the temperature exceeds the optimum ice temperature, glycol and aluminum pan keep the heat away from the ice, but when the temperature drops below optimum ice temperature, the temperature transfers heat to the ice," NHL.com said.

"The NHL used custom-made in-line heaters to heat glycol in pipes on the way to the floor, but for the first time we use two in-line heaters, one for the refrigeration truck, the other to adjust the crew temperature to half a degree in the outfield."

The NHL has staged 32 modern outdoor games this weekend at the MLB's Minnesota Twins home.

The maximum temperature should reach -2 degrees Celsius on Saturday, but it gets colder when the match starts at 7 pm. ET with a frozen temperature of -5 and cold air around -20 degrees.

Meanwhile, the NHL has announced the suspension of nine additional games, eight of which are due to presence restrictions in Canada. The NHL has suspended nine more Canadian games earlier this week for the same reason.

The NHL has said it plans to reschedule the games for the second half of the season when restrictions on participation in Canada could be "relaxed or revoked."

The NHL has also postponed the New York Islanders' road game with the Seattle Kraken scheduled for Jan. 4.