PHILADELPHIA (AP) ― Henrik Lundqvist stopped Danny Briere’s penalty shot with 19 seconds left, Brad Richards scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the New York Rangers rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in the Winter Classic on Monday at Citizens Bank Park.
Playing on a rink that stretched from first base to third base, the Rangers made the league’s fifth Classic event a memorable one to stay atop the Eastern Conference standings.
Mike Rupp scored twice as New York won for the third time this season against Philadelphia.
The NHL surrounded the rink with Christmas trees, fire wood, fake snow, and even trash-can fires. But there was nothing artificial in the elements with snow flurries late in the second period and temperatures that dipped into the 30s, forcing 49,967 fans to bundle up for the big game.
Rookie Brayden Schenn and Claude Giroux scored for the Flyers. It was Schenn’s first career goal.
While this game meant two points in the standings, like the four other NHL games set for Monday night, it received the kind of hype normally reserved for the Stanley Cup finals. NBC televised the game and HBO had 12 camera crews filming the game and behind-the-scenes action for its “24/7” series.
One of the breakout stars of the show was benched.
Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov, who signed a nine-year, $51 million contract in June, saw a recent slump send him to the bench. Sergei Bobrovsky got the call from coach Peter Laviolette and failed to hold the early lead built in front of a decidedly orange-and-black crowd.
The Flyers ended the game without star forward Jaromir Jagr, who played only a minute in the second period before leaving the game for good. The Flyers did not say what was wrong with the 39-year-old star, though he pointed to his back as he sat on the bench.
