NBC's announcers were Mike Emrick and Eddie Olczyk, with Pierre McGuire handling sideline duties and Bob Costas as the studio host.

[3] The game was delayed two hours from its originally scheduled start time due to the expectations of warm temperatures and sun glare.

Despite the ice conditions getting slightly worse, as well, the game became more fast-paced, and the Flyers scored two goals in less than two minutes in the second half of the period.

The Rangers came out with more energy to start the third, and Rupp tied the game on his first shift of the period, beating Sergei Bobrovsky from a bad angle.

Less than three minutes later, Brad Richards gave the Rangers a 3–2 lead when he hit an open side of the net following a rebound.

Daniel Briere was chosen to take the ensuing penalty shot, which was stopped by Henrik Lundqvist with 19.6 seconds remaining, sealing the win for the Rangers.

[5][6] HBO aired a four-part documentary chronicling the preparation of the two teams for the game as part of its award-winning sports series 24/7.

The series chronicled each team's seasons leading up to the Winter Classic, and emphasized the physical nature and intensity of the Rangers–Flyers rivalry.

The episodes focused notably on the fiery coaching approaches of John Tortorella and Peter Laviolette, the odd and comical personality of Ilya Bryzgalov, and the ups and downs that each team underwent before the Winter Classic.

[12] Lindros was a very popular and successful player for the Flyers, but left the franchise amidst controversy and bad blood.

The game began with a ceremonial faceoff between Flyer captain Bob Clarke and Ranger captain Mark Messier, dropped by Flyers chairman Ed Snider, member of the Hockey Hall of Fame as a builder, and a recent inductee in the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.

The game started with a total of seven members of the Hockey Hall of Fame on the ice: Clarke, Parent, Messier, Bill Barber, Mark Howe, Mike Gartner and Brian Leetch.

The first goal of the game was scored by John LeClair on a pass by Eric Lindros, showing shades of the Legion of Doom.

Mikael Renberg, the third member of the Legion, was invited to the game but was unable to participate due to prior commitments.

[13] Instead, Lindros and LeClair were joined by Mark Recchi, who retired less than 6 months earlier after winning the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins at the age of 43.

After the first five minutes in the third period, recent Hall of Fame inductee Mark Howe extended the lead to 3-1 by converting a penalty shot against Blackburn.

Philadelphia Flyers Coaches: Pat Quinn, Mike Nykoluk, Terry Crisp and Keith Primeau.

On January 4, 2012, Neumann University Knights (Division III) and Penn State met during the Icers' final year as an ACHA D1 program, prior to moving to the NCAA.