Rangers notebook: Winter Classic over, Rangers move forward

NEW YORK – The Rangers find themselves at this juncture sitting atop of

the NHL, which is one of the biggest surprises this year so far.   They finished December on a high note, winning some games against their division rivals, including the Flyers, who they would face in the Winter Classic.  
 
Things that have occurred since the last writing such as Sean Avery being waived yet again and sent back to the minors, Brandon Dubinsky finding his scoring touch once again, the return of Marc Staal to the team, and the HBO 24/7 series which has given fans an inside look at the team as they got ready for recent games leading up to this past Monday’s Winter Classic.
 
As for the Winter Classic, it was quite the spectacle down in Philadelphia on Monday with Citizens Bank Park all dressed up for a hockey game and two bitter rivals ready to face off against each other.  
 
There was a lot of physical play as the Rangers and Flyers battled hard for the entire game for every puck.   The real star of the game was Henrik Lundqvist, who stoned the Flyers on many shots and despite allowing 2 goals in the 2^nd period, was a brick wall the rest of the game.   The offensive hero was Mike Rupp, who potted two goals in the game including one to get the Rangers within one less than a minute after the Flyers went up by two.  
 
There were times during the game where the Rangers were pinned on their own zone and if not for Lundqvist, the game would have easily been out of reach.  
 
Moving onto the third period, after Rupp tied the score at 2, Brad Richards put them ahead to stay and the game became a nail biter for the remaining 15 minutes.  
 
Things seemed to be going well for the Blueshirts until the game took a trip into the Twilight Zone with about five minutes left.  
 
First Ryan McDonagh was called for a delay of game penalty even though he was pushed into the net by a Flyer, then after the Rangers killed off thatpenalty, it got even stranger.   The Flyers had pulled the goalie for the extra attacker and as Ryan Callahan was trying to salt the game away, he was called for holding the stick although it was wrapped around his neck, eventually evening up a call on the Flyers which led to a 4-on-4.  
 
The last call was the tipping point.   With under 20 seconds to go; McDonagh was called for covering the puck in the crease, although replay seemed to indicate that he swept it out.   So the officials got together and opted to call a penalty shot which Danny Briere took.  
 
Fans were on edge as this unfolded which eventually saw Lundqvist make a game saving save on the play.  
 
Fortunately after all of this mayhem the Rangers hung on for a 3-2 win which put them four points ahead of the Flyers in the Atlantic Division.  
 
The postgame comments from John Tortorella were eventually rescinded by him even though he was right to accuse the league and NBC of trying to manufacture a drama where there wasn’t one.   To add insult to injury, the league fined him $30,000 despite the fact he apologized.   The most notable absence to this was Gary Bettman, who has yet to comment on the events at the end of the Winter Classic which would show the fans that he may have had a hand in what took place.  
 
The entire sequence of penalties seemingly questions the league’s credibility as well as possibly driving the casual fan away.  
 
The game itself was great after a slow starting opening period and didn’t need the league’s interference for a spectacular finish.   From this writer’s perspective, this end of game nonsense ruined what should have been a great experience watching these two teams play a good, physical game.  
 
The Rangers now move forward from this and play the next 10 games – 5 at home and 5 on the road, including hitting the halfway part of the season before the All Star Break in Ottawa.  
 
Again this has been quite the season so far for them and there is still a lot of time to go before April and hopefully some more good moments to come.
 
Contact Howie.Sussman@prohockeynews.com Photographs by Lewis.Bleiman@prohockeynews.com