At Yankee Stadium, Rangers Will Share Glamour With Rivals Near-capacity crowds are expected at the Stadium for two N.H.L. games. Temperatures should be around 15 on Sunday and in the single digits Wednesday. A giant New York City subway map adorns the outfield grass. A children's hockey rink bounded by blocks of ice covers the home-plate area. Large crests of the Rangers and Devils rest atop the two dugouts. Stretching between first base and third is the rink itself, glinting bright under a cold winter sun. This is Yankee Stadium as it has never been seen before: a hockey portrait framed by a blanket of snow. That, in its icy grandeur, will be the scene of the N.H.L. Stadium Series, the first hockey games played at the Stadium. The Rangers will face the Devils there on Sunday afternoon and then the Islanders on Wednesday night. Each game is expected to attract a crowd at or near the Stadium's capacity of about 50,000. Sunday's weather forecast calls for temperatures around 15 degrees, partly cloudy skies, a brisk westerly wind and virtually no chance of snow. Bright sun on Sunday afternoon - maybe war paint for Hank? Rangers forward Brian Boyle said, referring to goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Wednesday night should be bitter cold, with the temperature expected to be in the single digits and little chance of snow. "Being outside under the stars and the bright lights at Yankee Stadium will surely be a great event," said John Tavares, the Islanders" captain. The teams" benches will be heated, and performers will emerge from warm rooms to make their appearances. The cast of "Jersey Boys" and Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes are among the acts performing Sunday. CeeLo Green will sing Wednesday night. But the fans will have to dress warmly, with hand and foot warmers recommended, just as the fans did at Wrigley Field, Fenway Park and Michigan Stadium for previous outdoor games. "The night game gives it a new wrinkle - it's going to be cold with the polar vortex taking a second swing," Boyle said. The Rangers are the most glamorous squad, an Original 6 team. While the Devils and Islanders take a back seat to the Blueshirts, their Stanley Cup success is far more impressive. "We've been living in these shadows for most of my career," said Devils goalie Martin Brodeur, who has been part of the cross-Hudson rivalry since he first played against the Rangers in April 1992. That team is so old and has so much history, and their fan base is so broad compared to what we have. The Rangers are the richest among the teams, worth an estimated $850 million according to Forbes magazine, while the Devils" worth is estimated at $320 million and the Islanders $195 million. Yet those values do not measure the teams" on-ice success. Few professional sports organizations can boast the Devils" success over the last two and a half decades. They have won three Stanley Cups, reached another two Cup finals and have missed the playoffs only four of the past 25 seasons. It has been a long while since the Islanders were a strong team, but their four straight Stanley Cups from 1980 to 1983 were part of an astounding run that included 19 consecutive playoff-series victories, an achievement unmatched in major league sports. The Rangers have won one Stanley Cup since 1940. Their often-revisited 1994 victory, the one made famous by Mark Messier's guarantee and the sign held aloft by a fan amid the celebration at Madison Square Garden: "Now I Can Die in Peace." The Rangers have played in two outdoor games - a 1991 preseason contest in Las Vegas and the Winter Classic, in 2012 - and are regularly featured in the league's national NBC broadcasts. The Devils and Islanders almost never get on NBC, and have never played outdoors. Nearly all of the players said they were excited about the Stadium games. "Cold temperatures don't bother me much - the colder it is, the harder the ice gets," said Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh, who grew up in Minnesota. Devils forward Jaromir Jagr, the 41-year-old Czech star who is the N.H.L."s seventh all-time scorer and an inveterate joker, claimed to be a baseball fan who has never been to Yankee Stadium. "In our culture, baseball is a very popular sport," he said, arching an eyebrow and laughing. It's No. 2, just after hockey. Brodeur said he expected Devils fans to be passionate about their team's moment in the winter sun. "Players come and go, but teams stay, fans stay - I think that's what makes that rivalry so special," Brodeur said. The Devils fan learns to hate the Rangers fan. I'm not sure the Rangers fan hates that much the Devils fan, but I know our fans hate them. Lou Lamoriello, the Devils" longtime president and general manager, saw Sunday's game in broader terms. "All you have to do is take a step back and think about it," he said. Two archrivals playing in front of 50,000 people, sold out, outside, where hockey started. "And at Yankee Stadium, a venue that is world-renowned," Lamoriello continued. How much better can it get?