The Winter Classic was a tremendous event to attend. Yes, the ice was choppy, the play at times was uneven and the officiating left a lot to be desired, but the entire spectacle of the event made a must-see event, regardless of who played. All the kiosks outside the event, the fans in the parking lot and general vibe added to the feel, which also is one reason why I think Citi Field rather than Yankee Stadium makes sense for the game down the road as it is laid out better to host this type of event. In addition, as Bill Meltzer pointed out, the excitement of the crowd when it began to snow flurry was truly something to behold as nearly every fan, regardless of age or team they were rooting for, has this almost child-like glow, exuberance and excitement when the snow began.

The day began with rumors that Marc Staal would be in the lineup. While some of us differ as to whether he should play, the mere fact that he has made unbelievable progress over the past few weeks and could be considered to suit up is phenomenal. About two hours prior to game-time the word came down that Staal was in the lineup, replacing Jeff Woywitka and play on the third pairing as a way to get his feet wet. I though Staal looked tentative, especially early, but got more in the flow as the day went on. In addition, you can tell how much Torts felt he was ready as he inserted on the late-game PK alongside Dan Girardi with Ryan McDonagh in the box (more on that later).

The entire first period had no flow. The players seemed to be adjusting to the ice, conditions, atmosphere etc., but Lundqvist was on his game and the Giroux line dominated, which was a portend for the second period. Both Philly goals came on defensive breakdowns. Brayden’s Schenn goal was due to a poor line shift before the face-off and then lousy coverage in front of the net by McDonagh. The second goal was more bad coverage, resulting in Giroux gaining a step and scoring a goal goal-scorers goal, but he never should have been that wide open. There were two key turning points in the game. The first was Torts shifting Brandon Dubinsky on to the Richards and Cally line in the second period. The second was Mike Rupp’s goal. Philly had all the momentum and before that could really build on itself and take over the game, Rupp came down and ripped one over a partially screened Bobrovsky to snatch away that momentum and quiet what was becoming a Flyers’ crowd in the stands.

The Flyers nursed a 2-1 lead into the third period, which normally puts them on the path to victory as they were 18-0-1 when leading after two and the Rangers were 2-6-1. All the good work Philadelphia did the first 40+ minutes vanished in the blink of an eye. A bad short-side goal past Bobrovsky by Rupp – the Broadway hat wearer – evened things at 2-2 and you knew it was only a matter of time before the Rangers scored again. Much was made over the decision to start Bobrovsky over the Universe, and while I agreed with the decision based on current play between the two netminders, that goal brought that whole debate right back to the forefront. A typical hard-working shift by Cally and Dubi led to a wide-open net for Richards, who didn’t miss, giving the Blueshirts (ask Mike Milbury to pronounce it) a 3-2 lead, and for me, started the clock-watching.

For most of the second and third periods, the Rangers did a great job of pinning the Flyers deep, clogging the neutral zone and tightening the gaps between the defensemen that led to several breaks in the first 25-30 minutes, which if not for Jaromir Jagr’s bad leg might have resulted in a goal. Yet, despite all that, we all failed to account for the sixth man on the ice for the Flyers; the officials. As a whole, the officiating stunk, but it got worse and more one-sided as the game wore on. Gaborik gets blasted and no call. McDonagh gets pushed into the net by JvR, and yet he gets called for knocking the net off its moorings. The one on Callahan, I have never seen before. He is being hogtied, on a breakaway with an empty net and grabs the stick as he is going down and they make a call. Then comes the one on McDonagh for the penalty shot,

The NHL rule book states: 67.4 Penalty Shot - If a defending player, except a goalkeeper, while play is in progress, falls on the puck, holds the puck, picks up the puck, or gathers the puck into his body or hands from the ice in the goal crease area, the play shall be stopped immediately and a penalty shot shall be awarded to the non-offending team. See also Rule 63 – Delaying the Game. First, in live action, there is no way the official could tell that McDonagh feel on the puck. Second, from watching the replay, it did not look like McDonagh closed his hand on the puck but used his leg and body to push it under Hank, and even from the replay either of those was unclear, so how do you make a call without crystal clear evidence? Fortunately for the Rangers, Hank stoned Briere on the penalty shot and the team killed off the last 15.6 seconds to come out with the victory.

The end result of those events, besides the win, is that expect Torts to get fined and possibly suspended for his comments, not that they were wrong. “Q. You just touched on it, the penalty shot and the few calls late, that they could have been made for the event; were you thinking the same thing? JOHN TORTORELLA: I’m not sure if NBC got together with the refs or what to turn this into an overtime game. It started with the non-call on Gabby’s, and he gets pitchforked in the stomach and everything starts going against us. So for two good refs, I thought the game was reffed horribly. So I’m not sure what happened there. Maybe they wanted to get into overtime. I’m not sure if they had meetings about that or what. But we stood in there. We stood in there. And again, I don’t want to—because they are good guys. I just thought tonight, it was—in that third period, it was disgusting.” Again, not that he was wrong, but I would expect the NHL, even if Torts was tongue in check, to not react kindly to his comments.

The most important part is this, as Andrew Gross said: The Rangers (24-9-4) beat the Flyers (22-11-4) for the third straight time this season and moved four points ahead of them in the Atlantic Division. The Rangers also remained atop the Eastern Conference and now lead the Bruins by three points. Now, with the cameras gone, think Torts is happy about that and I can't wait for 24/7 to hear his on-bench reactions to those calls, and Staal back, it’s time to focus on Florida next and the remaining schedule as things look bright in Rangers-land.

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