Chris Neil lands a punch on Eric Boulton. AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Fred Chartrand

Eric Boulton & Chris Neil Have a Slugfest, Rupp Scores Twice in Winter Classic

The hockey world, or at least the NHL world, was focused on the Winter Classic yesterday. After pushing the game from 1 PM Eastern to 3 to alleviate possible ice issues due to weather, we were treated to an uptempo, closely-played game with a little drama at the end.

Brayden Schenn scored his first NHL goal, followed two minutes later by league points leader Claude Giroux, to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead.

Only 30 seconds after that Mike Rupp scored for the Rangers, giving a Jaromir Jagr-esque salute afterwards. Rupp scored again a couple of minutes into the third, tying up the game. Brandon Prust and John Mitchell had assists on both of Rupp's goals. Brad Richards gave the Rangers the lead a few minutes after that and the score remained Rangers 3, Flyers 2.

The drama came With 19.6 seconds left in the game. A shaky period officiating-wise altogether, the refs said Ryan McDonagh illegally covered the puck in the crease, awarding a penalty shot to the Flyers. Danny Briere took the shot for Philly and Henrik Lundqvist made the save, keeping the Rangers lead.

This was the third in a series of six games between the two rivals. The first two games had two fights each. This game had none.

The fight that did happen

There was only one fight last night, but it'll be one that stays towards the top of the best of list for this season.

With the Devils up 2-0 in Ottawa, Chris Neil dropped the gloves with Eric Boulton. After a lengthy square off, the two went back and forth with big punches. Neil had Boulton tied up decently and drew blood, forcing Boulton to switch up jerseys.

Videos added

A big list today,as it including all of the Flyers-Rangers rivalry videos that were posted. Be sure to check out the photo gallery, too.

Eric Boulton vs Chris Neil Jan 2, 2012
D.J. King vs John Erskine Sep 23, 2003
Steve McLaren vs Mike Sgroi Sep 23, 2003
Dennis Bonvie vs Doug Doull Sep 22, 2002
Shayne Corson vs Andrew Peters Sep 27, 2002
Doug Doull vs Rob Ray Sep 27, 2002
George McPhee vs Rick Tocchet Mar 22, 1986
Rick Tocchet vs George McPhee Mar 9, 1986
Terry Carkner vs Dave Brown Nov 8, 1986
Ted Irvine vs Dave Schultz Feb 6, 1975
Bert Wilson vs Ted Harris Feb 6, 1975
John Bednarski vs Dave Schultz Feb 6, 1975
Ron Duguay vs Frank Bathe Apr 18, 1979
Anders Hedberg vs Frank Bathe Apr 18, 1979
Carol Vadnais vs Mel Bridgman Apr 18, 1979
Sandy McCarthy vs Donald Brashear Jan 12, 2002
Steve McKenna vs Todd Fedoruk Jan 12, 2002
Matt Barnaby vs Luke Richardson Jan 12, 2002
Mike Richards vs Ryan Hollweg Apr 4, 2006
Dan LaCouture vs Patrick Sharp Feb 14, 2004
Jamie Lundmark vs Danil Markov Feb 14, 2004
Matt Barnaby vs Donald Brashear Feb 14, 2004
Darius Kasparaitis vs Donald Brashear Mar 2, 2006
Todd Fedoruk vs Dale Purinton Feb 12, 2004
Dan Kordic vs Darren Langdon Dec 5, 1997
Rick Middleton vs Dave Schultz Apr 3, 1975
Dale Rolfe vs Dave Schultz May 5, 1974
Dave Schultz vs Brad Park Apr 25, 1974
Jeff Beukeboom vs Shjon Podein Apr 4, 1996
Mark Messier vs Joel Otto Apr 4, 1996
Shawn Cronin vs Tie Domi Oct 26, 1992
Dave Brown vs Larry Melnyk Oct 26, 1987