Rangers, Islanders showdown caps ‘special’ 2024 Stadium Series

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- MetLife Stadium stood silent in anticipation.

The New York Rangers had scored two power-play goals with their goalie pulled in the last 4:08 of regulation Sunday, and now there was a video review to rule whether forward Artemi Panarin had scored the winner 10 seconds into overtime.

The puck had hit New York Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson, hit Islanders goalie Ilya Sorokin and crept across the goal line -- after Dobson had knocked the net out of position.

The referee announced the goal was good, the Rangers had come back to win 6-5 in OT, and the place exploded with a sound you can’t hear at Madison Square Garden, as grand as the world’s most famous arena can be.

It was louder, deeper.

The fans sang along to the goal song and chanted, “Hey! Hey! Hey, hey, hey!”

“It’s roaring,” Rangers defenseman Adam Fox said. “I can only imagine what these football guys hear. It’s a little different. You don’t hear as much when you’re just on the ice play to play, but that eruption when we scored and when they announced it was a good goal too, yeah, it was cool to hear.”

These are the moments that make NHL outdoor games special, the moments that you remember, the moments that keep fans coming back.

This game drew 79,690, the third-largest crowd in NHL history. The Devils’ 6-3 win against the Philadelphia Flyers here Saturday drew 70,328, the fifth-largest crowd in NHL history at the time and the sixth-largest now.

In less than 24 hours, the 2024 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series drew a combined 150,018 for two regular-season games.

“Shocked me,” Rangers defenseman Jacob Trouba said. “Just the amount of people, I think, is pretty shocking.”

Perhaps the most shocking thing is the staying power of these events.

These were the NHL’s 40th and 41st outdoor games since 2003. The League has drawn 2,104,384 total.

Not counting two games at the 2021 NHL Outdoors at Lake Tahoe played without fans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NHL outdoor games have averaged 53,958 -- almost exactly three times a sold-out, 18,000-seat arena.

“I think the League does a great job putting it on,” Trouba said. “You’re obviously in the middle of a season, but you walk into this environment. The setup is great. It’s pretty flawless for the players to just kind of go and play the game.

“I mean, it’s special. We’re all little kids at heart. We grew up playing hockey outside and dreaming of scoring goals and making plays and doing things outside with the music and the cold. It just brings back all those memories, and I think it’s something great that I hope stays around for a long time.”

The NHL makes each outdoor game unique, tailoring the hoopla to the local market. This event presented special challenges and opportunities, because it was the first time the League had held outdoor games in the same venue in front of fans on back-to-back days.

Sunday felt a little different than Saturday despite the same field design -- a park in a New Jersey town -- and the quick turnaround.

Three end-zone sections were full, after they were empty Saturday to make room for lighting and pyrotechnics for a pregame Jonas Brothers concert -- one of the reasons for the larger crowd. The NHL used LED boards instead of static logos in key spots to change the look. Instead of a night game, this started as a day game and finished under the lights. Instead of a Jersey theme, there was a New York, New York flavor.

Each team arrived with police officers and firefighters from its home area, the Rangers wearing New York City police and fire hockey jerseys. Players from the New York Giants and New York Jets of the NFL, the usual home teams at MetLife Stadium, were introduced before the game. Rangers legend Mark Messier and Islanders legend Bryan Trottier dropped the puck.

AJR, a New York pop band, played in the first intermission. Rangers and Islanders legends were honored during the second intermission. Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” played through the loudspeakers after the game.

“Being close to home for me, it was obviously a cool experience,” said Fox, who grew up on Long Island as a Rangers fan. “The fans make a big part of it, and for the Rangers fans to show out and support us all game was something I’ll remember too.”

The NHL outdoor phenomenon will continue next season. The Chicago Blackhawks will host the St. Louis Blues in the 2025 Discover NHL Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, and the Columbus Blue Jackets will appear in their first outdoor game when they host the Detroit Red Wings at Ohio Stadium in the 2025 Navy Federal Credit Union NHL Stadium Series.

In Row 22 of Section 339 at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, amid tens of thousands of Rangers and Islanders fans, Robert Friend stuck out wearing a red No. 98 Connor Bedard Blackhawks jersey. The 29-year-old came from Chicago.

“I’m definitely going to the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field,” he said. “I’m really excited. I can’t wait to go.”