Sports News
Rangers Stay Hot Outdoors in Winter Classic
The build-up to the 2012 Winter Classic between the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers had lasted for months. Between the episodes of HBO's "24/7," which tracked the two teams as they prepared for the big game, and all of the worry about whether the weather would be cold enough to play hockey outdoors, the actual game could not come soon enough.
And when it finally was played at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia in front of nearly 50,000 fans, the game ended up being a beauty that the Rangers won, 3-2.
After the game was moved back two hours to allow some colder weather to move in, the Flyers were the ones that started hot. After a scoreless first period, Philadelphia got on the board with a Brayden Screnn goal from Matt Carle at the 12:26 mark of the second period. The Flyers' Claude Giroux, who received a ton of attention in the HBO show, put the Flyers up two after scoring his 18th goal of the season at the 14:21 mark of the period.
After Giroux's goal, however, the Rangers woke up and never looked back. Mike Rupp found the back of the net just 30 seconds after Giroux's goal, scoring for the second time this year on assists from Brandon Prust and John Mitchell.
Rupp then scored his second goal of the game at the 2:41 mark of the third period on assists from the same two teammates. And then with the game tied at two, Brad Richards scored his 14th goal of the season with assists from Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan at the 5:21 mark of the third period.
The biggest star of the game, however, was probably Ranger goalie Henrik Lundqvist, who made 34 saves in the game. The biggest moment came with 19.6 seconds left in the game. Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh was whistled for covering the puck in the crease, which gave Flyers center Danny Briere a penalty shot.
Briere tried to send the puck between Lundqvist's pads, but the goaltender was up for the challenge, denying the shot and propelling the Rangers to victory.
Rangers coach John Tortorella had some choice words for the officials after the game. Tortorella said, "They called a penalty shot which I still don't understand. I'm not sure if NBC got together with the refs to turn this into an overtime game. I thought the game was reffed horrible. I just thought tonight, in that third period, it was disgusting."
This was the third win by the Rangers over the Flyers this season, earning the Rangers their 51st and 52nd points on the season and putting four points between themselves and the Flyers.
Photo Credits: Getty Images
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