The Rangers seemed as stunned when their former goalie and the Red Wings jumped out to a 4-0 first-period lead. The Rangers' Bill Fairbairn would apologize to Giacomin for taking the first shot on him, and Wayne Dillon did likewise when he scored the Rangers' third goal -- it was the 20-year-old rookie's first in the NHL -- in Detroit's 6-4 victory.
"If it had lasted two or three more minutes we'd have lost because I was slowly sinking into the ice," said Giacomin, the emotional and physical toll draining him of 13 pounds that night.
"When it was over, there was just ovation after ovation from the fans. And they kept waving the signs. … I think it was the first time in New York the visiting team was actually treated like the home team."
Giacomin maintains it was the fan reaction to his Garden return that night, perhaps more than any of his achievements in net throughout his career, that convinced selection-committee voters to elect him to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1987.
"It's because of that game, and because of how the fans responded, that kind of really, really set the standard … for my selection to the Hall of Fame," he told former Rangers goaltending stablemate Gilles Villemure in the latter's 2002 book "Tales from the Ranger Locker Room."
"I didn't win the Stanley Cup (and) the majority of people that make it have won the Stanley Cup. I didn't, but it showed how popular I was … and I credit the fans an awful lot as one of the reasons why I'm in the Hall of Fame."
On Saturday, Phaneuf will deal with emotions of his own, as did Hall of Famer members Morenz, Howe, Gretzky, Messier, Lafleur and Giacomin in their homecoming games of a much grander scale.
At least the Senators and Maple Leafs will be the Homecoming Game of the Night. Like those in this spotlight before him, the former Toronto captain surely will be happy to have the event behind him, even as he enjoys the fans' embrace.