December 13, 2020: This day in New York Rangers history

After 67 years the New York Rangers finally do it!

What happened on December 13 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 1992, the New York Rangers did something they had never done in their history.  After 67 years and 535 games, the Rangers finally hit double figures in a game against the Montreal Canadiens.

The final score was 10-5 and it was a thrilling night for Rangers fans.  It was also a comeback night for Mike Richter who had been benched for three games after being pulled in a 8-4 loss to the Capitals a week earlier.  Not only had John Vanbiesbrouck started the last three games, but the Rangers had called Corey Hirsch up from Binghamton to back up the Beezer as Richter watched from the press box.

The teams were tied 2-2 after the first period, but the Rangers’ goal explosion started just a minute into the second period as they went on to outscore the Habs 8-3.   Sergei Nemchinov and Doug Weight each scored twice to lead the team.  14 different Rangers made the score sheet and even Richter got into the action with a second period assist.

It was a record setting night for Alex Kovalev who became the youngest Ranger to get four points in one game.  Kovalev was 19 years old and had one goal and three assists.  Kovalev was playing on a kid line with second year center Doug Weight and fellow rookie Steven King.  That line accounted for four goals and ten points in the contest.

For the Blueshirts, it was the 18th time the team had scored 10 or more goals in a game, a feat they have accomplished only once since then.

The numbers

The Rangers have played 35 games on December 13 in their history and it hasn’t been a bad day for them with only 13 regulation losses.

Games:  35
Regulation wins:  16
Regulation losses:  13
Ties:  3
Overtime wins: 1
Shootout wins: 1
Overtime losses:  1
Points percentage:   .571

Looking back

On each day, we look back at what the Rangers did one, five and ten years ago. December 13 was a quiet night each of those years with no games scheduled.