NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced who will play in the 2018 NHL Winter Classic.
The Buffalo Sabres will take on the Rangers at the Mets’ Citi Field in Flushing Queens on January 1st, 2018.
The Rangers are obligated by contract that states they must play all home games at Madison Square Garden. Since this game is at Citi Field, New York cannot be the home team. Therefore, the Sabres will be the home team despite the location being in New York.
The date will mark the 10-year anniversary of Buffalo hosting the first Classic, when they had over 71,000 fans packed into Ralph Wilson Stadium against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Rangers have been in one other Winter Classic, back in 2012, a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at Citizens Bank Park. They also played a pair of Stadium Series games in 2014, defeating the New Jersey Devils, 7-3, and then the New York Islanders, 2-1.
The Rangers served as the away team in all three of their previous outdoor appearances, which they have gone 3-0 in.