Jan. 1 (Bloomberg) -- The Detroit Red Wings scored five consecutive goals to rally from a 3-1 deficit and beat the Blackhawks 6-4 in the first National Hockey League game at Chicago’s Wrigley Field.

The NHL’s third outdoor game drew a sellout crowd of 40,818 to the 95-year-old stadium -- home of Major League Baseball’s Cubs -- on the city’s north side. Last year’s “Winter Classic” in Buffalo, New York, was played in a snowstorm and watched by the biggest television audience for a NHL game since 1996.

While there was no snow this year, the game-time temperature in Chicago was about 31 degrees Fahrenheit (-0.5 Celsius), leading many players to wear ski-mask style headwear under their helmets.

“It was a special game for everybody,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said in a press conference. “It wasn’t just another game.”

Jiri Hudler scored twice for the defending Stanley Cup- champion Red Wings, who also got goals from Mikael Samuelsson, Pavel Datsyuk, Brian Rafalski and Chicago native Brett Lebda.

Chicago had led at the end of the first period on power- play goals from Kris Versteeg and Martin Havlat, and an even- strength tally from Ben Eager. After falling behind 6-3, the Blackhawks got a late third-period goal from Duncan Keith.

“It exceeded my expectations,” Detroit captain Nicklas Lidstrom said. “I had a blast.”

The Red Wings outshot the Blackhawks 43-37 and have now won all four meetings between the teams this season.

Feisty Moments

Detroit leads second-place Chicago by eight points in the Western Conference’s Central Division and the game had its feisty moments. Chicago’s Brent Seabrook checked Detroit’s Dan Cleary over the boards into the Blackhawks’ bench early in the opening period.

One tradition at Wrigley Field is to have celebrities lead fans in singing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh-inning stretch of Cubs’ games. Today, Blackhawks Hall- of-Fame members Bobby Hull, Stan Mikita and former Cub second baseman Ryne Sandberg led the crowd in a version of “Take Me Out to the Hockey Game.”

Players also enjoyed the unusual setting.

Two hours prior to the opening faceoff, about 10 Red Wings players, including assistant captains Henrik Zetterberg and Kris Draper, gathered in front of a concession stand selling bratwurst on the stadium’s concourse level and warmed up by kicking a soccer ball between them.

Red Wings and Blackhawks supporters surrounded the group, peppering them with both positive comments and derisive chants.

Popular Game

The game was so popular that some fans bought season tickets for the Blackhawks, a team that’s made the playoffs once in the past 10 years. To be guaranteed seats for the game, fans purchased about 10,000 additional ticket packages this year priced from $600 to $12,540.

Blackhawks’ attendance is up 28 percent from 2007-08, and the team leads the 30-club league with an average of 21,552 fans per game, according to the NHL. The Winter Classic was also a boon for the owners of buildings with rooftop views of Wrigley Field that only generate revenue during baseball games.

“Normally at this time, there’s nothing going on,” said Tom Gramatis, 39, the owner of four buildings with rooftop seats.

Gramatis, who lives in one of his buildings, sold out 600 seats at prices ranging from $200 to $400, down from the $500 he said he thought fans would pay. He blamed the softening economy for the reduced prices.

The rooftop seats, part of Wrigley’s unique surrounding neighborhood environment, were far from the action. The distant view hardly mattered.

“It’s an iconic part of the experience,” said Blackhawks President John McDonough. “It gives it that Mardi Gras, New Year’s Eve festival feeling.”

The Blackhawks, one of the league’s original six clubs, haven’t won a championship since 1961 and finished last in their division twice since 2000. This season, the club has a 20-8-7 record, while the Red Wings are 25-7-5.

Tickets with a face value between $75 and $325 were being sold at StubHub.com, an online ticket reselling site, for between $185 and $800. To prepare the 200-foot by 85-foot (61- by-26 meter) rink, the league pumped 300 tons of refrigerant into six-inch pipes lining an aluminum panel floor. The boards surrounding the playing surface were made to resemble the ivy- covered bricks that line Wrigley’s outfield walls.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael Buteau at Wrigley Field in Chicago at 1320 or mbuteau@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: January 1, 2009 17:31 EST