On May 17 in NYR history: Chris Kreider, Montreal’s public enemy #1

What happened on May 17 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 2014, Chris Kreider earned the eternal enmity of Montreal Canadiens fans when he crashed into Carey Price on a rush, forcing the Montreal goalie to the sidelines with a knee injury. To fans of the New York Rangers, it was a shove from Alexei Emelin that caused the collision.  In Montreal, it was a premeditated hit.

Ranger fans also point out that though the hit was three minutes into the second period, Price play the rest of the period before being replaced by backup Peter Budaj.  Price allowed four of the seven Ranger goals in the 7-2 win that gave the Rangers a 1-0 lead in the Conference Finals.

Price was unable to play again the series and Dustin Tokarski took over in goal as the Rangers won the series in six games, going on to the Stanley Cup Final against Los Angeles.  To this date, Chris Kreider is public enemy number one in Montreal and he will never be forgiven for upending the Canadiens’ best shot at ending their Stanley Cup drought.

The first assist for a goalie

Until this date in 1979, no goalie had ever assisted on a goal in the history of the NHL Stanley Cup Final.  Ken Dryden became the first, assisting on Jacque Lemaire’s third period insurance goal in Game Three of the Final at Madison Square Garden.

The Habs won 4-1 to take a 2-1 lead in the series.  Dryden made 19 saves beside getting the assist, as the only Ranger goal was scored by Ron Duguay in the third period when the game was out of reach.

Game Two of an epic series

On this date in 1994, Mike Richter shut out the New Jersey Devils in the second game of the Eastern Conference Finals. The 4-0 win was Richter’s fourth shutout of the 1994 playoffs and the sixth of his playoff career.

The Rangers shook off a Game One overtime loss to win at Madison Square Garden as this epic series continued.  The four goal margin made this the most one-sided game in the seven game series.

Today’s birthdays

18 NHL players have been born on May 17 with two former Rangers in that group including one currently playing.

John Gilmour was born on this date in 1993 in Montreal, Quebec.  The defenseman was an undrafted free agent signed by the Rangers out of Providence College.  Gilmour made his Ranger debut late in the 2017-18 season after the announcement of the rebuild.   He played 28 games and five the next season, though he was a strong scorer in the AHL.  He played four games this season with the Buffalo Sabres and finished the season playing for the Garagarin Cup in the KHL for CSKA, a teammate of Ranger prospect Yegor Rykov.

Claude Larose was born on May 17, 1955 in St.Jean, Quebec.  A left winger, he was drafted by the Rangers in 1975, but chose to sign with the WHA’s Cincinnati Stingers.  In his third WHA season he was traded to the Indianapolis Racers where he was a teammate of Wayne Gretzky.   When the Racers folded in December 1978,  he signed with the Rangers who reclaimed his rights.  He plaed 25 games for the Blueshirts and finished his career in the minor leagues.

The numbers

Playoff games: 3
Wins: 2
Losses: 1
Winning percentage: 67%