Rangers Nip Sabres in a Windy Winter Classic

The event that led to what's now the NHL's signature regular-season event began in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium in 2003.

They called it the Heritage Classic, with the Oilers hosting Montréal's Canadiens.

57,167 fans braved freezing temperatures, had a blast, and by the next week, the number of those who said they were there was well into six figures. At least.

It took The Commish & Co five years to realize they had something.

Once the light went on, the NHL decided to test the concept of a New Year's Day outdoor game off-Broadway, liked what they saw, and a New Year's Day tradition was born:

So, on the 10th episode of that first game in Buffalo, the lowly Sabres were invited to meet the Broadway Blueshirts in the Big Apple.

And the New York Mets' Citi Field just happens to have a big apple:

The stage was set, the house was packed, and the driving wind -- wind-chill: -2ºF/-19ºC -- made arctic conditions an existential experience.

But who cared?

The Sabres and Rangers then proceeded to put on a show:

The Rangers sorely needed those two points to remain in a wild-card spot. They're now 4-0-0 outdoors:

• They came from behind to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers in 2012, and 
• The other two happened in Yankee Stadium in 2014, when they dropped the Islanders and Devils in the league's Stadium Series, when they kinda got carried away with the outdoor thing.

The Sabres, frankly, looked as good as they have all season. Must've been the adrenalin. They have hope. Not for this season, but promise is clearly beginning to show.

And with that, 2018 is underway.