New York Rangers Today In History: Messier, Richter and Graves
By Frank Pickel
One of the Greatest NHL Series of All-Time
The 2016 Conference Finals are underway and the New York Rangers, unfortunately, are on the outside looking in. With that being said, let’s take a trip down memory lane, to a better time in Rangers History.
May 15th 1994, Game 1 of Eastern Conference Finals started between the New York Rangers and the New Jersey Devils. The Rangers got to this series by absolutely smoking both the Islanders and Capitals in their two previous playoff series. However, this series was not a cake walk by any means, in fact it was the complete opposite.
This series had it all. The Rangers and Devils were considered by many the two best teams in the league, The Captain made one of the most bold statements any professional athlete can make and oh yeah, players like Messier, Graves, Leetch, Brodeur and Matteau were all skating at the same time. Needless to say, the series did not disappoint and for Rangers fans everywhere, this was the year a huge weight was lifted off our shoulders as the Cup found its way back to MSG.
Game 1 took place in MSG, the Rangers lost in heart-wrenching, double overtime game, by a score of 4-3. However, history shows that the New York Rangers had the last laugh, not just in this playoff series, but also in the Stanley Cup Finals.
New York Rangers 1994 Eastern Conference Finals
More from History
- Jacque Plante Trade Tree Between the Rangers and Canadiens
- Jean Ratelle Trade Tree Between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins
- The Hilarious Tale Of the Mike Richter Trade Tree With Edmonton
- Mark Savard’s Trade Tree With the Calgary Flames in 1999
- Mark Messier’s Trade Tree Between the New York Rangers and Edmonton Oilers
May 17th, 1994, what a time to be alive. Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals started with the New York Rangers down a game to New Jersey Devils. The Rangers were able to dominate all aspects of this game and shutout the Devils 4-0 to tie the series up at one game a piece.
Mark Messier opened up the scoring early in the first period as the Rangers gained an early lead. The second period was kept close due to two amazing goalies, Richter and Brodeur, but in the third period the Devils goalie was unable to keep the Rangers at bay.
New York recorded three goals in the third period, thanks to the sticks of Glenn Anderson, Adam Graves and Sergei Nemchinov. This victory was made even more impressive due to one of many dominating performances from Mike Richter.
Mike Richter Ties a Franchise Record as he goes 16 for 16
Mike Richter stopped all 16 of shots he saw in Game 2. What makes that impressive is not the fact that he stopped 16 shots, realistically that isn’t a lot, however, the fact that this was his fourth shutout of a single postseason is extremely note worthy.
Next: Henrik Lundqvist or Mike Richter: Who Would You Want in Game 7
Richter, is in many people’s eyes, the best goalie that has ever worn a New York Rangers sweater. Some fans will argue that Lundqvist is just as good as Richter, but the fact that Lundqvist lacks certain hardware is the main reason people tend to hesitate to dub him the “All-Time Best Ranger Goalie”. Lundqvist or Richter, that is an argument for another day.
Richter was undeniably amazing throughout his New York Rangers career and especially during the 1993-1994 season. Without him in-between the pipes that season, it is hard to say the Rangers would have made it out of that epoch Conference Final series.