“The night was a rarity from an equipment perspective. Normally, away teams wear white jerseys while the home club dresses in its primary color. The visiting Red Wings taking the ice in red was a surprise, but according to an NHL spokesperson, the league’s marketing department has actively encouraged teams to explore color-on-color jersey matchups. The idea has been brought up at general manager and board meetings, the spokesperson said. After all, hockey is played on a white surface, so the primary-color jersey combinations pop nicely, as they did Sunday.
The Rangers and Red Wings had to get permission from the NHL to both wear non-white jerseys, just as teams sometimes have done in the past for outdoor games. Detroit and the Toronto Maple Leafs wore their primary colors at the 2014 Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Boston Bruins and Philadelphia Flyers did the same at the 2021 game at Lake Tahoe in Stateline, Nev.”