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.