The Rangers on Black Friday: Barnburners and gong shows

This year, Black Friday won’t feel the same without the New York Rangers playing.

Like early-morning shopping and leftovers, New York Rangers’ games have become part of a Black Friday tradition. Since 2007, the Blueshirts have been a participant in games played on the day after Thanksgiving 12 times.

The Rangers have been a staple of the NHL on NBC’s NHL Thanksgiving Showdown for each of the past seven seasons, traditionally a road game at Boston or Philadelphia, since the event debuted in 2011 with the Bruins hosting the Detroit Red Wings.

The only occasions the Rangers didn’t play on Black Friday since 2007 came in 2012 when a lockout delayed the season’s start to mid-January, and this year, as the NHL’s 2020-21 slate isn’t expected to open until January at the earliest due to COVID-19.

Before I go any further, let me state unequivocally that I’m thankful for my family, my health, their health, for everything I have, and that I realize not having live NHL hockey to enjoy isn’t the end of the world given the pandemic we’re up against.

With that out of the way, here’s a look back at Rangers games played on the day after Thanksgiving (a.k.a. Black Friday) since 2007. Some were thrilling (barnburners in hockey lingo) and others were outright stinkers (gong shows).

Barnburners

Rangers 3, Flyers 2, Nov. 25, 2016, at Philadelphia

The Rangers led 3-0 after two periods on goals by Derek Stepan, Matt Puempel, and Kevin Hayes, then hung on as the Flyers pulled within a goal after Shane Gostisbehere scored with 2:04 to play. Henrik Lundqvist made a 40 saves the most so far that season, including 19 in the final stanza, two days after being pulled in a 6-1 loss to Pittsburgh in which he allowed four goals on 17 shots.

Bruins 3, Rangers 2 (OT), Nov. 29, 2019, at Boston

The Rangers led 2-0 late into the middle period on goals by Pavel Buchnevich and Filip Chytil.

However, a fluke goal by Sean Kuraly with 1:32 remaining before the second intermission gave the first-place Bruins life. Kuraly redirected a shot from the point. The puck hit the post and lay on the goal line before it was inadvertently knocked in by Henrik Lundqvist. David Pastrnak tied it at 4:27 of the third and set up the winner by David Krejci nearly two minutes into overtime.

No shame in blowing a two-goal lead and hanging on for a road point against one of the NHL’s best. But this one stung considering the Rangers went scoreless in six power-play chances, including a 62-second 5-on-3 and a four-minute man advantage in the late stages of the third period.

Rangers 4, Panthers 3 (SO), Nov. 28, 2008, at Sunrise, Fla

Former Ranger Radek Dvorak scored and set up David Booth’s equalizer with 1:33 remaining. Markus Naslund and Nikolai Zherdev scored in the shootout for New York, after Rostislav Olesz opened the shootout’s scoring for Florida. Henrik Lundqvist made 38 saves in regulation and overtime and stoned Stephen Weiss and Michael Frolik in the shootout.

Older Blueshirts fans might recall that Dvorak was the right-winger on New York’s Czechmates Line with center Petr Nedved and left-winger Jan Hlavac. Dvorak set career single-season highs in goals (31), assists (36), and points (67) in 2001 while playing for the Rangers.

Bruins 3, Rangers 2, Nov. 29, 2013, at Boston

The Rangers went scoreless on five power plays, failing to register a shot on goal on three of them. Patrice Bergeron and Zdeno Chara scored in the third period, erasing a 2-1 deficit. Entering the match, the Blueshirts were 9-0-0 on the season when leading after two periods and an amazing 95-0-6 in their previous 101 games when taking a lead into the final stanza.

Bruins 4, Rangers 3, Nov. 27, 2015, at Boston

The Rangers got goals from Oscar Lindberg and Rick Nash three minutes apart late in the second period, and a power-play tally from J.T. Miller early in the third to take a 3-2 lead. But Ryan Spooner tied it with 3:46 remaining with Jesper Fast in the box for holding. Boston notched the winner with 1:43 left after David Krejci’s slapper from the point deflected off Blueshirts forward Emerson Etem and past Lundqvist into the net.

Rangers forward Derek Stepan missed the third period after being hit by Matt Beleskey in the middle stanza. Dylan McIlrath stood up for Stepan, mauling Beleskey and drawing misconduct and instigating calls. After the game, it was revealed that Stepan had suffered broken ribs and would be lost for an indefinite period.

Rangers 6, Capitals 3, Nov. 25, 2011, at Washington

After a scoreless opening period, the second stanza was a good ole fashioned shootout.

The Rangers raced to a 3-0 lead on goals by Marian Gaborik, Artem Anisimov, and Ruslan Fedotenko. Less than a minute after Fedotenko’s goal Troy Brouwer got Washington on the scoreboard. John Carlson struck on the power play four minutes later to make it a game before the Blueshirts potted three of the game’s final four markers.

Rangers 3, Panthers 0, Nov. 26, 2010, at Sunrise, Florida

The Rangers got a goal from Derek Stepan midway through the first period but didn’t get any breathing room until Ryan Callahan potted one on the power play 5:24 into the final frame. The match remained within the Panthers’ reach until Brandon Prust’s short-handed tally with 5:35 remaining. Lundqvist made 40 saves.

Panthers 3, Rangers 2 (SO), Nov. 23, 2007, at Sunrise, Fla.

Chris Drury sandwiched goals around tallies by David Booth and Stephen Weiss. Drury’s second marker came on the power play with 3:50 remaining. Unfortunately, Drury couldn’t get the equalizer on his turn within in the shootout after Oli Jokinen scored. Both teams went scoreless on their first four attempts before Jokinen beat Steve Valiquette, who stopped 33 shots in regulation and overtime. For Valiquette, now a studio analyst for MSG Network,  it was his first shootout loss as a Ranger and he was 4-4 in shootouts as a Blueshirt.

Rangers 2, Detroit Red Wings 1 (OT), Nov. 24, 2017, Madison Square Garden

A rare home Black Friday game for the Rangers. Jimmy Howard, who always plays well against the Blueshirts, made 29 stops. Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 40 shots. Chris Kreider tied it midway through the third period after Tomas Tatar struck on the power play four minutes before. Mats Zuccarello’s fourth goal of the season 37 seconds into overtime, extending the team’s home winning streak to seven games.

Rangers 3, Flyers 0, Nov. 28, 2014, at Philadelphia

The Rangers got a power-play goal in the first period from Dan Boyle, an even-strength marker from Marty St, Louis in the middle frame, and a shorty from Rick Nash in the third. Boyle’s tally was the only strike in six man-advantages for New York, while Philly failed to capitalize on any of its half-dozen power plays.

Gong shows

Flyers 4, Rangers 0, Nov. 23, 2018, at Philadelphia

Pardon the pun, but the Rangers played like a bunch of stuffed turkeys, They were outshot 46-31, outhit 26-22, and lost 58.7 percent of the game’s faceoffs. Somehow, they managed to hang around through two periods, after which they trailed just 1-0. Philadelphia snapped a four-game losing streak. Twenty-six-year-old Calvin Pickard, playing for his third NHL team, earned his fourth and final NHL shutout.

Lightning 5, Rangers 1, Nov. 27, 2009, at Tampa

This was Rangers head coach John Tortorella’s first game against the team he coached to the 2004 Stanley Cup championship and by which he was fired following the 2007-08 season.

“We were simply outplayed, from the top line right on through the goaltender,” Tortorella told reporters afterward. “It was a team effort.”

Ryan Callahan scored with 2:07 remaining in regulation to spoil Mike Smith’s shutout (26 saves).

The last time the Rangers played on Thanksgiving

Rangers 6, Thrashers 3, Nov. 24, 2005, at Atlanta

The Rangers built a 3-1 advantage in the second period on goals by Jason Ward, Petr Prucha, and Michael Nylander. The Thrashers roared back to tie, but Jaromir Jagr potted his 21st of the season with two minutes to go in the middle stanza, restoring New York’s lead.

Blair Betts gave the Blueshirts breathing room eight minutes into the third and Jed Ortmeyer’s empty-netter with 43 seconds remaining put the game out of reach for Atlanta.

One last thing

In case you’re wondering, the Rangers didn’t play on Thanksgiving or on Black Friday in 2006.