Rangers biggest goal scoring games through the years

Most goals ever

It took almost thirty years for the Rangers to exceed the 11 goal mark and NHL expansion played a part.  The Blueshirts beat the California Golden Seals 12-1 on November 21 1971 at Madison Square Garden.  Their opponents had joined the NHL in 1967 as the Oakland Seals and in their first four seasons they had an awful .360 winning percentage.

By the time they traveled east to Madison Square Garden in the 1971-72 season they had already had games when they had given up nine and eight goals.   This game was a massacre, with Seals goalie Gilles Meloche leaving the ice in tears after giving up nine goals. He was replaced by Lyle Carter and it took the Rangers all of eight seconds for Pierre Jarry to score and hit double digits.  Jarry’s two goals in eight seconds is still a franchise record.  For what it’s worth, Jarry’s goal celebration included a Rockette-style leg kick, fifty years before Artemi Panarin.

In that game the Rangers set a franchise record for goals in one game as well as the largest goal differential in their history. Jean Ratelle had four goals, only the 16th active NHL player to accomplish the feat.  They tied an NHL record with eight third period goals and set a league mark with 15 assists in one period.

The Rangers were angry going into the game, as they had a 14 game unbeaten streak stopped by the Minnesota North Stars the night before.   They got even angrier when Detroit scored to make the score 4-1. The Blueshirts thought the goal didn’t go in, but as the New York Times reported, “but the instant replay over cable television clearly showed the goal.”

It was also the debut for rookie Gene Carr who scored two goals and added two assists.  All in all, 13 New York Rangers had points.  The only players who didn’t get on the scoresheet were defenseman Ab DeMarco and forwards Jim Lorentz and Glen Sather.

The Rangers poured 52 shots on shots on goal in the game. Ratelle led with four goals while Ted Irvine, Carr and Jarry had two goals each.  Rod Gilbert had four assists while Walt Tkaczuk and Rod Seiling each had three assists.  The GAG line of Ratelle, Gilbert and Vic Hadfield totaled 11 points in the game.

Worst loss in NHL history

The Rangers own an entry in the record book that they would rather not have.  On January 23, 1944, the Blueshirts traveled to Detroit and were routed 15-0, the most lopsided loss in NHL history.   To make it even worse, only 11 days later, on February 3, the Rangers went back to Detroit and were destroyed 12-2.   The total of 27 goals in consecutive games against the same team is a record that will probably never be broken.