NEW YORK Before the game, they roamed Seventh Avenue and the area surrounding Madison Square Garden. In many ways they fit in with the crowd, blue T-shirts with the Rangers lettering on the front that read "22"piped in red. Around 4 p.m., a large group of them congregated at Mustang Harry's, a local watering hole that helped set the mood for what was to be a celebratory night.

When they entered the arena, yes, they were rooting for the Rangers, but their attention was on oneplayer in particular. The group made the trek from different locations:Long Island, the outer boroughs, and New Rochelle, N.Y., a 45-minute drive to the city well, of course, without rush hour traffic, though that was a risk they were unwilling to take.

"Took the train; the easy way," Barbara Babe Herman Jersey Shattenkirk said. "I know better than to drive into New York at six o'clock at night."

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They were here to see their son, sibling, fianc, or friend, depending on whom you asked. All were there to watch Kevin Shattenkirk, theRangers' prized free-agent signing this summer, who accepted an offer to play at home while leaving money on the table from other teams. He made his Rangers and home debutThursday, recording an a sist in a 4-2 lo s tothe Avalanche.

"The Walker Buehler Jersey result still kind of stings," Kevin said after the game. "When I look back on it a long time from now it will obviously be a great moment for me. It still was a special night in my career, but right now I'm just a little upset from the result, and some plays out there I felt like I could have had a better effect on the game and helped our team out a little more."

Despite the result, said his debut was "still a special night in my career."

Kevin grew up in New Rochelle, a stone's throw from MSG. It's where his love affair with the Rangers began, idolizing Brian Leetch, wearing his No. 2 while playing for the New Rochelle Lightning around age 7.

There weren't many trips to Madison Square Garden, though. Between Kevin and brothers Eric and Keith, his mother, Barbara, and father, Pat, were constantlychaperoning the children to this field or that rink.

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"If you have kids who play hockey, you don't have a lot of free time to do a lot of other things than driving them where they need to be," said Barbara, immersed in the Shatten-clan on the Chase Bridge at Madison Square Garden during her son's home debut. "Three kids and two parents, we were kind of heading in a lot of different directions. I wish we could have been at events more, but we just kind of had to watch from home."

But they did watch, and they were (and now are, more than ever) Rangers fans. And when Kevin became an unrestricted free agent this summer, and chose to come back to New York, well, of course his mother was happy.

"It's so awesome," she said, having followed Kevin six-plus years with the Blues and a cup of coffee with the Capitals. "And St. Louis is an easier trip, but you have to plan it. And for me, when I would go to St. Louis I would kind of like to go when he David Freese Jersey didn't have a game because then I'd get to spend time with him. I can always watch him play hockey on the TV. But to be able to see him in his down time, that's what New York will allow us."

Now Kevin can pop in for a home-cooked meal, attend a family gathering, or celebrate a holiday. And there will be plenty more trips to MSG.

Last week, Barbara and Pat came to the Rangers-Flyers preseason game at Madison Square Garden. As much as those exhibitions are tune-ups for players, Kevin's parents also wanted to get Kenta Maeda Jersey in some reps before the start of the regular season.

"Just to figure the whole thing out," Barbara said. "We didn't want this to just be the first night, so we kind of got the lay of the land last week so we could come tonight and have a good time."

The T-shirts were a collaborative effort. They were printed for the some 120 people friends, family, and newly discovered cousins who Eric and cousin James Tallarico also got tickets for to come see Kevin in his Rangers debut. The front had Kevin's jersey number, while the back had his Twitter handle, "Shattdeuces," and three other words, "Born And Bred."

A T-shirta sist also went to Kevin's best friend, Predators forward Nick Bonino.

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"Kevin and my son Eric, and Nick, and Cam Fowler do golf trips," Barbara said. "Eric for some reason was in touch with Nick;Nick put him in touch with a T-shirt guy. Nick Bonino actually helped us get these T-shirts."

The Shatten-fanscheered during player introductions, when Kevin was introduced, skating out to the center circle and joining his new teammates. They cheered louder when he was announced as a starter, the anticipation of puck drop growing closer.

And they cheered loudest when Kevin faked a shot and slid a perfect pa s to Mika Zibanejad, fooling almost everyone in the arena, recording a primary a sist and his Andre Ethier Jersey first Rangers point to cut New York's deficit to 2-1 in the first period.

"The emotions are crazy insane," Barbara said. "First of all, we're Rangers fans, so to be able to sing that the Rangers have an awesome song, by the way, when they score to be able to sing that when your son is involved is pretty amazing."

Rangers power-play goal. The Shattenkrik clan celebrates his primary a sist.

It came at a crucial moment, with the Rangers trailing 2-0 and New Yorkskating 5-on-4. One of the responsibilities Shattenkirk will be charged with on his new team is quarterbacking the power play.His unit converted twice, though the second was on a broken sequence. New York City longs for good quarterback play; Brian Leetch wore No. 2, Joe Namath No. 12, and now Shattenkirk wears 22. The franchise and its fans are hoping Shattenkirk too can be their quarterback of the future.

"I know who Kevin is on the ice," Barbara said. "If you put everybody on the ice and you didn't put any jerseys on them, I know who he is. To see him be involved like that (on the goal), I kind of knew that was him.

"You kind of could follow it. You knew where that was going."

Well, Barbara knew, and Kevin knew, but not too many other people in the building knew.

"A lot of times when you get pucks like that out of scrums and Hyun-Jin Ryu Jersey you look for a lane to the net there's really nothing there," Kevin said. "There are bodies everywhere, and a player like Mika does a phenomenal job of pushing himself off the pile and finding that spot. Then for me that's an easy play, and an easy one for him to put in."

Those kinds of plays will quickly endear Shattenkirk to Rangers fans.

"There's no doubt Kevin ba