Inside the Stadium Series: NY Rangers vs NY Islanders
This past weekend the NHL Stadium Series came to MetLife Stadium right here in New Jersey! The two-day event saw the New York Rangers take on the New York Islanders in a rivalry that has been coined ‘The Battle of New York’. As a big hockey fan myself, I was excited for this annual event to come to New Jersey and be able to attend the whole weekend of events!
While Saturday’s game took place at night, Sunday’s game had an earlier start and took place in the daylight. The parking lot opened at 10 am and the pregame festivities kicked off shortly after at 10:30 am. The NHL hosted a Pregame Fan Fest with New Amsterdam Vodka that featured giveaways, a bar, live music, and the Stanley Cup itself!
Live music being performed at the Fan Fest
Fans also had the opportunity to meet Mike Richter, the Rangers goalie from 1989 through 2002. I tried to enter the line, but officials cut it off because it was getting too long. There were plenty of photo opportunities all around the lot. The most popular being a large sign that read “No Quit in NY” with the team’s logo.
The Ranger’s motto
One of the vendors held a scavenger hunt, where fans had to download an app and scanned QR codes that were placed around the Fan Fest at all the tents. Once they scanned all the codes, they were entered for a chance to win prizes, that ranged from a puck to a signed jersey to floor tickets for the intermission concert. Luckily for me I was chosen as a winner and, while I didn’t receive any of the grand prizes mentioned, I did win a $25 gift card to the NHL Shop!
My big prize!
Puck drop was set for 3 pm on Sunday, however, with the game being played during the day, there was concern about ice being in direct sunlight, so puck drop was pushed back to 3:45 pm. Doors still opened at 1 pm though so fans started finding their seats and explored the corridors of the stadium. Instead of starting the game at 3 pm, the players came out for warmups around 3 pm. New York Rangers’ Matt Rempe stepped on the ice first for his rookie lap, becoming the first player to make his NHL debut at an outdoor game.
The Rangers and Islanders out for warmups!
The players weren’t the only stars in attendance at this game. When the teams came back out for puck drop, Soloman Thomas, Alijah Vera-Tucker, Breece Hall, C.J. Mosley, and
Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets and Sterling Shepard, Saquon Barkley, and Tommy Devito from the New York Giants welcomed the fans and the players to their home stadium. Shepard was given the microphone and stated that while Sunday is usually football day, but for this week, “…Sunday is hockey day”.
Then Mark Messier and Bryan Trottier walked on the ice to complete the ceremonial puck drop together. And finally, the game was underway!
Just 1:28 into the game Erik Gustafsson gave the Rangers the lead and the crowd was loving it! They played their iconic goal song and the Rangers fans in the crowd of 79,690 people were singing and chanting “hey” along with the music.
The Rangers score first!
The lead didn’t last long though because just about three minutes later, Brock Nelson tied it up for the Islanders. While the crowd of Islanders fans wasn’t as big, they were definitely still loud when cheering for their team.
The cheers got much louder when the Islanders scored two goals in 17 seconds. The first was from Bo Horvat on 4-on-4 play and the second came from Matt Barzal on the power play.
Islanders get one right back
The Rangers fans were not happy about this, and I heard people turning around yelling “suit up” and “get back in there”. I turned around to find that Ranger’s legend, Henrik Lundqvist, was sitting in a box right above our section watching the game.
During the intermission, New York native band, AJR, took the stage wearing custom Stadium Series jerseys. They performed three songs,including “Burn The House Down”, which the stadium played as the teams made their entrance to the ice at the beginning of the game.
The Islanders got a power play early on in the second period, which eventually led to their fourth goal of the game from Anders Lee. Now being down 4-1, it wasn’t looking good for the Rangers.
Islanders fans are excited their team is in the lead
That was until the Rangers got their own power play goal from Artemi Panarin to bring them back within two goals. That is where the score stood for most of the period until the last two minutes. The Rangers were buzzing in front of the net letting out shot after shot until Vincent Trocheck finally put it in the net with 1:36 left. The teams went back to the locker rooms with a close score of 4-3.
During the second intermission, the stadium held a tribute to New York hockey. Alumni from both teams came out to honor hockey in New York, including Butch Goring, Denis Potvin, John Tonelli, Bryan Trottier, and Denis Potvin from the Islanders and Henrik Lundqvist, Mike Richter, Adam Graves, and Mark Messier from the Rangers.
Honoring former Islanders and Rangers players during second intermission!
Eager to get their multi-goal lead back, the Islanders started the third period with another early goal from Alexander Romanov. The Islanders were holding strong onto that lead until both teams got a penalty and the end of the game turned into a frenzy! Penalty after penalty was given to each team and, with all the yelling around me, I couldn’t always tell which people were cheering and which were upset.
What I did know for sure is that the Rangers fans were happier than ever when the Rangers tied it up to bring the game to overtime! The people who left when the Rangers went down 4-1 are probably kicking themselves now. Especially because, in overtime, the Rangers scored to win the game and keep their outdoor record alive, still having never lost an outdoor game!
