On May 4 in NYR history: A shutout record for Richter

What happened on May 4 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 1997, Mike Richter became the New York Rangers’ all-time playoff shutout leader with a 2-0 win over the New Jersey Devils.  It was his eighth career playoff shutout, one more than the seven achieved by Dave Kerr.

The win came in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals at Continental  Airlines Arena. He would also shut out the Devils in Game Four, his ninth and last playoff shutout.  That record was surpassed by Henrik Lundqvist who recorded 10 playoff shutouts with the Rangers.

Mark Messier also set a  record in this game, playing in his 228th career postseason game, passing Larry Robinson  for most in NHL history. Messier retired having played in 236 games, a record that was surpassed by Chris Chelios and Nicklas Lidstrom.

First Final win in 22 years

In 1972 on this date, the Rangers beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 at Madison Square Garden. It was their first win in a Stanley Cup Final at the Garden since 1940.  Although the Blueshirts had made the Final in 1950, their only win as “home ” team was played at Maple Leaf Gardens because the circus had taken over the Garden and after the the first two games in Toronto, the remaining games were played in Detroit.

Brad Park had two goals and two assists as the Rangers won in their first real home game in a Final since April 3, 1940.  This was the only home win for the Blueshirts as their one other win in the series came in Boston as the Bruins won in six games.

Two  1-0 losses

The Rangers have lost two playoff games by 1-0 scores to the Washington Capitals on May 5.  The first was in 2013 when Mike Green scored a power play goal in overtime to give the Caps the win at the Verizon Center in Washington.  It came in Game Two of the Eastern Conference Quarter-Finals.   The Rangers went on to win this series in seven games.

Two year later, on May 4, the Capitals won again by the same 1-0 score as Jay Beagle scored the only goal of the game in the second period, again at the Verizon Center. Again, the Rangers won this series in seven games.

The Rangers have lost four playoff games by a 1-0 score with two coming on the same date two years apart to the same team.

Today’s birthdays

There are 24 NHL players born on May 4 including four former Rangers.

Matthew Barnaby was born on this date in 1973 in Ottawa, Ontario.  He was a  feisty right winger who played 14 years in the NHL, twice leading the league in penalty minutes. A fan favorite in Buffalo where he played for seven years, the Rangers acquired him from Tampa for Zdeno Ciger in 2001. He played three seasons in New York, never getting under 100 minutes in penalties  in each season.

Leon Rochefort  was a right winger born on this date in 1939 in  Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec.  He came up to the NHL in 1960 with the Rangers and played 24 games in New York before being traded to Montreal in 1963.  He was small piece of the huge deal that saw the Rangers trade Gump Worsley and Dave Balon to the Habs for Jacques Plante, Phil Goyette and Don Marshall.  Rocheford ended up playing 15 years in the NHL for seven different teams.

Don Smith was a left winger born on May 4 in 1929 in Regina Saskatchewan.  He played 10 games for the Ranger than season and saw action in one playoff game.  Those were the only games Smith played in the NHL. He was he brother of Ken Smith who played seven years for the Bruins.

John Tripp was born on this date in 1977 in Kingston, Ontario. He was a right winger who played nine games with the Rangers in 2003 before signing with Los Angeles in 2003.  He played 34 games with the Kings before going to Germany to play. It’s unknown how many of the 35 minutes in penalties John Tripp amassed in the NHL were for tripping.

The numbers

Playoffs games: 8
Wins: 3
Losses: 2
Overtime losses: 3
Winning percentage: 38%