December 1, 2020: This day in New York Rangers history

A big night for Wayne Gretzky and a number of firsts for the New York Rangers

What happened on December 1 in the history of the New York Rangers?

On December 1, 1996, Wayne Gretzky reached one of the many milestones in his storied career, this time with the New York Rangers.   The Montreal Canadiens came to Madison Square Garden and the Great One scored a goal and added an assist in a 6-3 New York win.  Those two points gave him 3,000 on his career, including the regular season and the playoffs.

No one else is even close.  Gretzky retired with a total of 3,239 total points.  Second on the list is Mark Messier with 2,182, over a thousand points fewer than Gretzky.  His milestone came at 11:54 of the third period when he scored a goal with the assist to Pat Flatley.   This was Gretzky’s first of three years he spent with the Rangers.

A big day in NHL history

December 1, 1924 the New York Rangers didn’t exist, but it marks the date of the first game in league history to be played in the United States. The Boston Bruins hosted the Montreal Maroons at Boston Garden, the Bruins winning 2-1.  The Blueshirts were to be founded two years later, making their debut in 1926.

Two firsts for the Blueshirts

One December 1, 1932, the Rangers played their first game ever against  the Detroit Red Wings.  That team had been rebranded, formerly the Detroit Falcons and before that, the Detroit Cougars.  The Rangers played at the Detroit Olympia and won 4-2.  Cecil Dillon led the Rangers with two goals.

In 1995 on this date, the Colorado Avalanche played their first game ever at Madison Square Garden, losing to the Rangers 5-3.  The Avalanche had moved to Denver from Quebec for the 1995-96 season. It was a blowout with the Rangers jumping out to a 5-1 lead on Mark Messier’s two goals and one assist.

Brothers gone wild

For the first time in NHL history, four sets of brothers played in the same game.  It happened on this date in 1940 at Chicago Stadium in a game won by the Blackhawks, 4-1.  Representing the Rangers were Lynn and Muzz Patrick along with Neil and Mac Colville. The two pairs of brothers for Chicago were Max and Doug Bentley and Bob and Bill Carse.

The Chicago brothers scored two goals, one each by Max Bentley and Bill Carse. The Rangers’ siblings were scoreless.

The numbers

The Rangers have played 39 games on December 1.  Here are the numbers:

Regulation wins:  18
Regulation losses:  13
Ties:  6
Overtime wins:  1
Shootout losses:  1
Points Percentage:   .576.

Looking back

On each day, we look back at what the Rangers did one, five and ten years ago.  December 1 is a pretty quiet anniversary as the Rangers were off in each of those years.