For four days in a row, people wearing different-colored sports jerseys moved in, out, and around Penn Station in Manhattan. For some, it was their destination. For others, it was a turning point. But for fans of five teams in two sports in one metropolitan area, it was the epicenter of that unparalleled springtime buzz: the playoffs.
Throughout the United States and Canada, many cities host professional basketball and hockey playoff games. But nowhere was it more exciting than in the New York metropolitan area, where all five professional winter teams were active in the postseason.
It was the first time that all five home teams were in the playoffs at the same time since 1994, the year in which Madison Square Garden was the star at the heart of the sports world. The Rangers and Knicks traded nights in the park from April to June of that spring, all the way to the NBA Finals and the NBA Finals, and the Rangers winning the Stanley Cup. Along the way, all five teams played dates at that arena during the playoffs.
This year, by Sunday, three of the teams had played at the Garden, but all five—the Islanders on Long Island; the Nets in Brooklyn; Knicks and Rangers in Manhattan; and the Devils in Newark, NJ — somewhere in the metro area’s relatively intense first-round matches.
“There’s definitely a commotion in the area for sure,” said Islanders’ fullback Ryan Bullock, after his team pounded the visiting Carolina Hurricanes, 5-1, on Friday.
The first playoff game was held at the two-year-old UBS Arena in Elmont, New York, about 35 minutes from Penn Station on the Long Island Rail Road. That same night, basketball fans can ride the railroad (or subway) to Penn Station, walk upstairs and see the Knicks beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 99-79, at Madison Square Garden in Game 3 of that series.
The crowd and the building were ready for the moment, and Knicks guard Jalen Bronson called the atmosphere “unreal.”
“Being in this environment,” he said, “there is no other replica.” “There is nothing close to it.”
And there were more of them on Sunday.
This home run, which has been sprouting for two years, kicked off Thursday, when the Devils and the Rangers played in Newark for Game 2 of that series. Some New York fans hopped on the New Jersey Transit train from Penn Station, including several Rangers fans who snuck into the Prudential Center, home of the Devils. At the same time, barely 14 miles away, the Nets, who once shared an arena with the Devils in East Rutherford, NJ, hosted the Philadelphia 76ers at the Barclays Center, losing Game 3.
The Brooklyn basketball playoffs continued on Saturday afternoon, but they came to an end for the Knights, who were knocked out in the first round by a sweep of 76.
But anyone looking for more tiebreaker action could have taken the #2 train to Penn Station to see the Guardians welcome the Devils to Game 3 at the Park Saturday night; As the Devils won in overtime, 2-1. On Sunday, the Knicks were scheduled to bowl at 1 p.m. ET, the same time the puck was scheduled to drop in Elmont for the Islanders.
Eight playoffs in four arenas in four days with five home teams: It’s a playoff between New York and New Jersey.
“It’s great for the home crowd,” said Islanders winger Kyle Palmieri. “I grew up as a local fan, watching all these teams.”
He also played for two of them. Palmieri was born on Long Island, in Smithtown, New York, and moved with his family to Montville, New Jersey, when he was a boy. He played with the Devils from 2015 until he was traded to the Islanders in 2021, just in time for the Islanders’ final game at the old Nassau Coliseum – a 3-2 overtime win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 23, 2021.
Now, even with his focus on his own team’s series against Carolina, he can marvel at all the home teams playing at once.
“It’s special for everyone to be involved,” he said. “It doesn’t happen often.”
As of Sunday, more than 140,000 people were expected to attend all games. One of them was Lucas Whitehead, 27, of Saskatchewan, Canada, who was in the area for a conference at the United Nations on Aboriginal governance. He bought an Islanders jersey and was impressed by the atmosphere of the first playoff game at UBS Arena.
“The energy here was like nothing I’ve seen before,” he said after Friday’s game. “I’ve been to a lot of arenas. We’ve been to MSG and the Prudential Center, and I’ve been to a lot in Canada. This was the craziest.”
But the park came alive again on Saturday, for the Rangers-Devils game. Rangers fans show their presence in Newark, but at home, when their team scores and the crowd sings the goal song and the walls shake, it can create a burst of momentum for the team.
“It’s amazing — it’s one of the most amazing experiences you’ll have,” said Rangers’ Mika Zibanejad after practice Friday, about two hours after the Knicks practiced in the same building in Westchester County, New York. Who isn’t on the ice and won’t be a part of it at that moment.”
When the playoffs move to May, the number of home teams will dwindle. But there may be more excitement to come. If the Rangers and Islanders win their series, the rivals, whose fanbases generally hate each other, will meet in Round 2, their first post-season meeting since the Rangers swept the Islanders in the fateful spring of ’94.
That would suit Philip Shetel, the Rangers center who is originally from the Czech Republic. Prior to joining Rangers in 2017, Chytil played one year professionally for Czech team PSG Zlín and said his rivalry with HC Kometa Brno was fiery. But playing The Islanders in New York will be much more intense.
“That would be great,” Chitel said Friday. “It’s a big ‘if’ at the moment. But we won’t have to travel that much. Just take the bus.”
Or, if the team prefers, there are plenty of trains in and out of Penn Station.
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