Rangers find outdoor game odd but enjoyable

PHILADELPHIA -- When the Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers took their long-standing rivalry outside Monday, it was not particularly recognizable for a while.

Whether it was the outdoor ice slowing the puck and the skaters, or the stiff wind in the faces of players moving east to west, or the vast open spaces between the playing surface and the stands designed for baseball, "it took a little time to get acclimated," said Mike Rupp, who scored twice in the Rangers' 3-2 victory.

"It was tough to get focused at first," Rangers captain Ryan Callahan said. "So much going on. But I thought, me personally, I started to settle down after the first 10 minutes and realized it was just another hockey game.

"But you're outside, so it took a bit to settle down. It's hard in this atmosphere to really control yourself. You look around throughout the whole game. TV timeouts, you look around and realize there's 47,000 people out there watching a hockey game. It's special. I really enjoyed it."

Rupp, who played in last year's Winter Classic for the Pittsburgh Penguins, thought the setting added to the "slow start. It's just different. You hear this hollowness behind you and feel like, when [an opponent] is right on top of you that you have more time than you think. You don't hear the crowd unless there's a big hit.

"It just kind of feels weird. It's a big game and we're all excited for it, but it just feels weird out there."

Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist said, despite being absorbed in the game, he never lost track of where he was. "It's very different," he said. "Especially for me, to track down the puck. Walking out for warm-up, hearing the crowd, you get really excited. You had to calm yourself down."

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"The puck gets weird bounces," Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh said of the ice, which constantly was being doctored with shovels and patching. "But all and all, the ice was above average."

Besides, the Rangers won. "A really fun game," defenseman Dan Girardi said. "Had a great time out there. Hopefully, we can do it again sometime."