The first game scheduled for February 20, titled Bridgestone NHL Outdoors Saturday, featured the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche, and the second game on the following day, titled Honda NHL Outdoors Sunday, pitted the Philadelphia Flyers against the Boston Bruins.

[4] The league announced on October 22, 2020, that the Winter Classic was being postponed to the next season due to "ongoing uncertainty" of the pandemic since fan participation is considered "integral to [its] success.

[12] With no fans allowed at the event, the geographic location of the teams became less important, as the games became made-for-television showcases.

The nearest teams to Lake Tahoe are the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks, but the Sharks were not scheduled for the event due to scheduling uncertainties related to Santa Clara County's local COVID-19 health restrictions on contact sports, as well the expectation that the team would finish with a losing record as in the prior season.

[13][14] The Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins were offered the opportunity to play in both games, but decided to take part in only one contest.

[16] On February 10, Greg Wyshynski of ESPN reported a message from NHL chief creative officer Steve Mayer, informing them that the league had backup teams in place should any of the teams scheduled for the Lake Tahoe games become unavailable due to COVID protocols.

The Vegas Golden Knights (VGK) and the Colorado Avalanche (COL) began play on February 20 at 12:12 p.m. PT (3:12 p.m.

[18][19] Play was suspended after the first period due to ice conditions caused by its exposure to heat and sunlight; the game was resumed at 9:02 p.m. PT (12:02 a.m.

[22] The game between the Philadelphia Flyers (PHI) and Boston Bruins (BOS) was scheduled for February 21,[23] originally at noon PT (3:00 p.m.

[19] Mike Tirico provided the play-by-play commentary with United States Hockey Hall of Fame member and analyst Eddie Olczyk and "Inside-the-Glass" reporter Brian Boucher.