December 2, 2020: This day in New York Rangers history
By Steve Paulus
A New York Rangers legend’s number is retired
What happened on December 2 in the history of the New York Rangers
December 2, 2018 was a big night for Rangers legend Vic Hadfield. It was the night that he became the third member of the famed GAG line to have his number raised to the rafters of Madison Square Garden.
Number 11 already hung from the rafters in honor of Marc Messier, but Hadfield deserved the honor as well. He played the first 13 of 16 NHL season in New York and achieved immortality by becoming the first Blueshirt to score 50 goals in a season.
The 1971-72 season will go down in history as the best by a Rangers left wing as Hadfield scored 50 goals and added 56 assists for 106 points. He was a second team All-Star as the Rangers made it to the Stanley Cup Final, losing in six games to the Boston Bruins.
His 50 goals is third most, his 106 points in fourth most and his 23 power play goals is second most in one season for a Ranger, all from that 1971-72 campaign.
Hadfield was the Rangers captain from 1971 to 1974 and he is the top ten in every major offensive category in franchise history. He is fifth all time in goals (262), power play goals (83) and penalty minutes (1,041).
December 2, 2018 was the last time that the Rangers have retired a number.
A return after 37 years
On December 2, 1967 the Rangers played the expansion Pittsburgh Penguins for the first time on the road. The Blueshirts won 4-1 at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena. It was the first time the Rangers played an NHL game in Pittsburgh since January 18, 1930. On that date the Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 with the Pirates moving to Philadelphia and becoming the Quakers the following season.
A Brooklyn first
On December 2, 2015 the Rangers played their first game ever in Brooklyn, losing to the Islanders 2-1 in a shootout at the Barclays Center. There’s more about the game below. Despite the fact that the Brooklyn Americans were in the NHL for the 1941-42 season, they played their home games at Madison Square Garden so this truly was a Brooklyn debut.
So, the Rangers played the Brooklyn Americans in Manhattan and the New York (Long) Islanders in Brooklyn. Hmmm.
The numbers
The Rangers have played 30 games on December 2 in their history. Here are the numbers:
Regulation wins: 13
Regulation losses: 11
Ties: 3
Overtime losses: 1
Shootout losses: 2
Points percentage: .533
Looking back
On each day, we look back at what the Rangers did one, five and ten years ago. There were games on December 2 each year with mixed results.
Last year, 2019 – Vegas 4, Rangers 1
The Golden Knights won their third straight game and the Blueshirts were never in the game, scoring a late third period goal by Brendan Lemieux. It dropped the Ranges record to 13-10-3.
Five years ago, 2015 – Islanders 2, Rangers 1 (Shootout)
It was a goaltending duel between Henrik Lundqvist and Jaroslav Halak with the only goals scored by John Tavares and Viktor Stalberg. Kyle Okposo was the only player who scored in the skills competition. The Rangers dropped to a record of 17-6-3.
Ten years ago, 2010 – Rangers 6, Islanders 5
In a wild game at the Nassau Coliseum, the Rangers scored three third period goals to beat the Islanders. Marian Gaborik got the game winner with 5:25 left in the third period, his second goal of the game. Martin Biron started for the Blueshirts, but was replaced by Henrik Lundqvist after giving up three goals . The Rangers improved to 15-11-1. The Isles had won only five of their first 23 games.