When Paul Carey scored the NHL’s first goal of 2018 to open the Winter Classic at Citi Field on Monday — his sixth in 59 career games — many were reminded of another unlikely Winter Classic hero for the Rangers.
That would be Mike Rupp, who on Jan. 2, 2012, at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia scored two goals in the Rangers’ 3-2 victory over the Flyers. That was the same number of goals he scored in his other 67 regular-season games for the Rangers.
“It’s a big stage, and you feel like everybody’s watching,” Rupp, now an NHL Network analyst who was at Citi Field for Monday’s game, said during the first intermission.