On March 4 in NYR history: A record for Mr. Shotblocker

On this date in 2011, Dan Girardi set a modern New York Rangers record, registering eight blocked shots in one game, a 4-1 win over Ottawa.  He broke the club record of seven set by Chris Drury in January  2010 and tied by Brian Boyle in December of the same year.

The NHL has been tracking blocked shots since the 2005-06 season so there is no telling if a Ranger of yore had more in a game, but Girardi wasted no time in breaking his own record, blocking nine shots in a game just eight days later.

Girardi broke his record again in March 2015 when he blocked ten shots in a 3-2 win in Winnipeg.  The NHL record is 15 and it belongs to Kris Russell of the Calgary Flames, set in 2015 as well.

Most goals in a game…ever

When you score nine goals in a game, you should win, but that is exactly what the Rangers didn’t do on this date in 1944.  They lost at the Boston Garden to the Bruins by the unbelievable score of 10-9.

The 19 combined goals is the most ever scored in a game playdr by the Blueshirts, but was two goals shy of the NHL record of 21 set in 1920 by the Toronto St. Patricks and the Montreal Canadiens, a 14-7 win for the Habs.

Long time, no shutout

On this date in 1970, the Rangers were shut out by the Detroit Red Wings 2-0. It was their 62nd game of the season and the first time they had been shut out since November 6, 1968 by the Los Angeles Kings.   That was a string of 126 straight regular season games without the Rangers being held scoreless.  Add four playoff games and the streak was 130 games.

That club record  streak was broken when the Rangers went 236 games without being shut out from December 20, 1989 to December 13, 1992.

Two quick goals

On this date in 1961, Andy Bathgate and Pat Hannigan scored five seconds apart in an 8-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings at Madison Square Garden to tie a club record.   In 1936 Neil Colville and Phil Watson had scored five seconds apart in a 6-1 win in Boston.

That record was equaled twice more, by Eddie Johnstone and Doug Sulliman in 1980 and by James Patrick and Kris King in 1991.

They were all wiped out of the Rangers record books when Rick Nash and Martin St. Louis scored two goals in four seconds on October 19, 2014 in a 4-0 win over San Jose.

Today’s birthdays

22 NHL players have been born on March 4, but not a single New York Ranger.

The numbers

37 games for the Rangers on March 4, but the record is pretty awful with only 11 regulation wins.

Games: 37
Regulation wins: 11
Regulation losses: 17
Ties: 6
Overtime losses: 2
Shootout losses: 1
Points percentage: .419

Last year

The Rangers were off a year ago, following two straight losses.  The worse news this day was when we learned that Chris Kreider would be out of action 4-6 weeks due to his broken foot.

With only vague stories circulating about a mystery virus that was wreaking havoc in Europe, the best news was that the league projected that the salary cap in 2021-22 would increase to as much s $88.2 million.  That didn’t work out, did it?

The Rangers were headed home to face the tough Washington Capitals.