New York Rangers biggest goal scoring games through the years

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What was the New York Rangers’ biggest goal explosion and when? A look back at a Rangers goal scoring history

The most goals scored in a game by the New York Rangers last season was six. They did that eight times. The most goals scored by any one team in a game was nine, done twice by the Tampa Bay Lightning and once by the Vancouver Canucks. The Rangers were the recipients of one of those beat downs, losing 9-3 to Tampa last November.

The only teams that reached a high for the season with fewer goals were the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets, who each scored five goals in a game. It feels like it has been a while since the Rangers had one of those glorious blowouts. It has been.

You have to go back four years to the last time the Rangers scored as many as seven goals in a game. That was on November 15, 2016 when they beat the Canucks in Vancouver by a 7 -2 score. Just a month earlier, they had defeated the San Jose Sharks 7-4 at Madison Square Garden.

To find a game when the Rangers scored as many as eight goals, you have to go back to March 18, 2014 when the Rangers scored eight goals in an 8-4 win in Ottawa. Believe it or not, it’s been over ten years since the Blueshirts scored eight goals in a game at Madison Square Garden. You have to go back to November 14, 2010 when the Rangers overwhelmed Edmonton 8-2.

Double digits

The Rangers haven’t seen a double digit game in the new millennium. They last scored ten goals in a game on November 10, 1998 when they beat Tampa on the road, 10-2. To find the last time the Blueshirts scored in double digits at Madison Square Garden, let’s travel back to December 13, 1992 when they beat Montreal 10-5.

Just one month earlier, the Rangers had scored 11 goals, beating the Penguins 11-3 at the Igloo. The Rangers have actually scored 11 or more goals eight times in franchise history.

The first time was way back on March 16, 1939 when they beat the New York Americans 11-5. Although classified as a road game, it happened at Madison Square Garden which they shared with the Americans. That game was a product of the times. The Americans’ goalie, Earl Robertson, suffered a ligament tear in the second period and had to leave the game after giving up four goals by the middle of the second period.

He was replaced by a fellow named Roger Jenkins, a defenseman and the Rangers poured in seven goals in the third period including two by Phil Watson and one by Bryan Hextall.

The Rangers equaled that output on January 25, 1942 in an 11-2 win at the Garden over the Detroit Red Wings. They did it against the regular Red Wings goalie Johnny Mowers. They scored three goals in 48 seconds in the second period and rookie Grant Warwick had the hat trick. Their nine goal differential tied the franchise mark set in 1940 in a 9-0 win over Montreal.

Rod Gilbert #7 of the New York Rangers. (Photo by Melchior DiGiacomo/Getty Images) /

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.

Exterior view of the second old Madison Square Garden, New York City, 1940s. (Photo by Getty Images) /

Some other games

There are some other notable game worth recalling. The Rangers have scored seven goals twice only to come away with ties. On March 22, 1981 they tied the Quebec Nordiques 7-7, equaling the franchise record that they had set on March 19, 1978 when they tied he Minnesota North Stars 7-7 in Bloomington.

Believe it or not, the Rangers once scored nine goals in a game and lost. That was on March 4, 1944 and the game was on the road in Boston. The Bruins held one for a 10-9 win, the 19 goals remains the most goals scored by both teams in one game in franchise history.

The Rangers have lost when they scored seven goals only three times in their history. The last time the Rangers scored seven goals and lost was on November 10, 1960 when they dropped a 7-9 decision in Montreal. Before that it was a 8-7 loss to Detroit in 1950 and the first time was on December 19, 1945 when they lost in Boston, 8-7.

It took the Rangers three years after they joined the NHL for them to score seven goals in a game. On January 19, 1928 they won 7-0 over the Americans again in a road game at Madison Square Garden. That seven goal differential held for 12 years until the Rangers scored nine goals in a 9-0 shutout win over Montreal.

For their first two seasons the most they scored was five goals. They scored seven goals in 1928, and nine goals in January 1929 in a 9-3 win over the old Ottawa Senators. That nine goal record held until that 11 goal win over the Americans we described earlier.

The first overtime game when the Rangers scored seven goals was a 7-5 overtime win against the New York Americans on March 9, 1937. In those days the teams played a full ten minute overtime period, explaining the two goal Ranger margin. The win clinched a playoff berth for the Blueshirts.

The Rangers matched that with a 7-6 sudden death overtime win on November 2, 1992 against the Buffalo Sabres. Tony Amonte scored a power play goal with 32 seconds left in the game to tie and Darren Turcotte won the game for the Rangers just 58 seconds into the overtime. Dave Andreychuk took a high sticking penalty six seconds after the Amonte goal, giving the Rangers a power play to start the overtime and they cashed in. The assists for Turcotte? Mark Messier and Brian Leetch.

Barry Beck #3 of the New York Rangers (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

Playoff scoring

The most goals scored by the Rangers in a playoff game is ten. That came on April 11, 1981 at Madison Square Garden over the Los Angeles Kings. The Blueshirts won by a score of 10-3. The next highest goal total for the Rangers in the playoffs was nine goals, scored on April 8, 1983 in a 9-3 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

They have scored eight goals in a playoff game eight times, the last time being 25 years ago in a 8-3 win over the Quebec Nordiques on the road on May 8, 1995. The last time they did it at home was on May 1, 1992 when they beat the Devils 8-4 at the Garden.

The first time they scored eight goals was on April 10, 1975 when they beat the Islanders at the Nassau Coliseum by an 8-3 score. Ironically, that was the opening game of a three game series and only a tiny television audience saw the game as it was televised on a fledgling pay network called Home Box Office. Many more people saw the next two games at Madison Square Garden, both won by the Islanders with the series winner an overtime goal by J.P. Parise.

Those eight goals against the Islanders shattered the single game playoff goal scoring record that had been set in 1940 when the Rangers beat Toronto 6-2.

The largest margin of victory in playoff game for the Rangers is seven goals, accomplished twice. The first was that 10-3 win they registered over the Los Angeles Kings in 1981. The did it again with a 7-0 win over the Atlanta Thrashers on April 17, 2007.

Summing up

Considering that is 22 years since the Rangers scored in double digits, they are long overdue. Ranger fans would be happy to see them score eight goals in a game, something they haven’t done since 2002.

With their loaded offense, it’s just a matter of time.

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