On May 9 in NYR history: An elimination game win over Boston

What happened on May 9 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 1972 the Rangers did something that they hadn’t done since 1928.    Down 3-2 to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final, they won an elimination game in the Final for the first time since 1928.

The Rangers had staved off elimination in 1928 when the series was a best of five, beating the Montreal Maroons after falling behind 2-1.   Since that series, the Rangers had lost every FInal elimination game they played in 1929 , 1932, 1937 and 1950.  The 1950 series was the first FInal that the Rangers played in that was a best of seven.   In that series, the elimination game was the seventh and final game of the series.

In 1972 the Bruins won three of the first four games, setting up the fifth, elimination game on May 9.   In Game Five, the Bruins jumped out to a 2-1 lead on goals by Wayne Cashman and Ken Hodge while the Rangers got a goal from Dale Rolfe.

The heroics belonged to Bobby Rousseau who had been acquired before the season for                Bob Nevin.  The veteran forward scored at 2:56 and 12:45 of the third period to secure the win.

Unfortunately it was for naught as the Bruins won Game six two days later.

Today’s birthdays

28 NHL players have been born on May 9 with four of them former New York Rangers.

Mark Tinordi was a big defenseman, born on this date in 1966 in Red Deer, Alberta.  He has to be classified as the one who got away.  The Rangers had the common sense to sign the undrafted free agent in January 1987, but they had the bad sense to trade him to Minnesota after only 24 games in New York.  The players the Rangers got in a six player deal never amounted to much with the Rangers while Tinordi played 11 seasons in the NHL for three teams as one of the toughest defensemen in the NHL.

Joe Cirella was born on this date in 1963 in Hamilton, Ontario.  The fifth overall pick by Colorado in the 1981 Entry Draft, Cirella played 15 years in the NHL as a stay-at-home defenseman most notably for the New Jersey Devils.  In 1991 he was traded to the Rangers and he played three seasons in New York.  He was claimed by the Florida Panthers in the 1993 expansion draft, just missing out on the Stanley Cup championship season.

Danny Belisle was born on this date in 1937 in South Porcupine, Ontaria.  He was a right winger who played four games in New York for the Rangers in the 1960-61 season.  That was his only NHL experience though he played almost 15 seasons in the minor leagues.

Stan Brown was born on May 9, 1898 in North Bay, Ontario.  He was a member of the first New York Rangers team in 1926-27, a defenseman who played 24 games that seasons.  After one year, the Rangers traded him to the Detroit Cougars where he played one additional year.

The numbers

Playoff games: 8
Wins: 3
Losses: 4
Overtime losses: 1
Winning percentage: 38%