NHL Winter Classic 2012: 5 Best Players of the Game

On January 2, 2012, the New York Rangers defeated the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 in the fifth annual NHL Winter Classic.

The game was a very exciting one, consisting of a lot of back-and-forth play. The first period came and went without any goals. Just when it seemed that the Flyers would run away with the game, Rangers winger Mike Rupp scored twice to tie it. Rangers veteran Brad Richards then scored a third goal that would prove to be the game-winning score.

The third period itself was especially exciting. In the closing minutes, a questionable dual penalty call made it 4-on-4. It then became 5-on-4 when the Flyers pulled their goalie. With about 18 seconds to go, Danny Briere was given a penalty shot and a chance to send the game into overtime. However, Lundqvist made his final epic save of the night, allowing the Rangers to win 3-2 in regulation.

In this big game, each team played hard to fight for the two points in the standings and for the win at one of the biggest games of the regular season. Broad Street and Broadway clashed in what was a great game of hockey. While it took the effort of the team of a whole, each team had a handful of player that proved to change the tide of the game.

Mike Rupp

Like Mike Rupp, Brandon Prust was one of the Rangers with the least amount of time on ice in the game.

Of the 8:31 he spent on the ice, he was on the penalty kill for 1:02. He did a good job of helping the Rangers fight off a possibly lethal Flyers power play.

Most importantly, while the left winger didn’t manage to get any shots on goal, he did find himself getting the primary assist on both of Rupp’s goals. Without Prust setting up those important goals, it’s hard to say whether or not the Rangers would have won.

Henrik Lundqvist

Henrik Lundqvist stopped 34 of 36 shots on goal, finishing the game with a .944 save percentage.

After Brayden Schenn posted his first career goal to make it 1-0 for the Flyers, Lundqvist looked a little shaky. Then, Claude Giroux scored on a back hand just two minutes later. After those two goals, Lundqvist would then hold the Flyers off for the remainder of the game.

Lundqvist truly looked like a star in this game. In the first period alone, he stopped 12 shots. One of these shots came when he stopped a Giroux breakaway with a poke check. Another great save by Lundqvist in the first period came when he stopped Jaromir Jagr, who split New York’s defensemen to go one-on-one with the Lundqvist.

The final highlight reel save came when Lundqvist stopped Danny Briere from tying the game on a late penalty shot.

Lundqvist had some stellar goaltending on Monday. Not only did he save the Rangers from getting scored on on multiple occasions, but he was also one of the most consistent players for the Rangers throughout the game.

Claude Giroux

The NHL’s scoring leader added a goal to his total in the Winter Classic. As Talbot and Giroux closed in on the Rangers’ goal, Talbot passed to Giroux, who then put the puck in the net with a crisp backhand shot.

This shot was one of a few scoring chances for Claude Giroux during this game. He had the chance to score a breakaway goal, but was stopped as Lundqvist uncharacteristically came out of the net a bit to poke the puck away from Giroux.

In addition, Giroux also registered three shots on goal and won 12 of 22 faceoffs.

Brandon Prust

Like Rupp, Prust was one of the Rangers with the least amount of time on ice in the game.

Of the 8:31 he spent on the ice, he was on the penalty kill for 1:02. He did a good job of helping the Rangers fight off a possibly lethal Flyers power-play.

Most importantly, while the left winger didn’t manage to get any shots on goal, he did find himself getting the primary assist on both of Rupp’s goals. Without Prust setting up those important goals, it’s hard to say whether or not the Rangers would have won.

Brayden Schenn

Brayden Schenn scored the first goal for the Flyers on a rebound off of Lundqvist. This goal was also Schenn’s first NHL career goal.

In the 12:15 Schenn was on the ice, he had three shots on goal. He also managed to win a whopping 12 of 16 faceoffs for a team-high 75 percent faceoff win rate for the game.