On October 5 in Rangers history: Mika’s big night

What happened on October 5 in the history of the New York Rangers

We have seen Mika Zibanejad have some really big nights for the New York Rangers.  His five-goal night against the Capitals was most memorable, but on this date in the second game of the 2019-20 season, he had a spectacular game against the Ottawa Senators, his former team.  He notched a hat trick, but he did it with a power play, shorthanded and even strength goal and even added an assist in a 4-1 win in Ottawa. It was the third hat trick of Zibanejad’s career.

That was only the fifth time in franchise history that a player had scored a shorthanded, power play and even strength goal in the same game. Bruce MacGregor was the first in 1971, Don Maloney did it in 1981, Petr Nedved in 2000,  and the last before Zibanejad was Derek Stepan in 2014.  It was only the second time a Ranger accomplished the feat on the road.

Zibanejad was off to an incredibly hot start with eight points in his first two games.  He was the first NHL player to have that many points since the Penguins’ Jaromir Jagr in 1995-96. How unusual was it?  He was only  the second Ranger to have eight points in the first two games after Rod Gilbert in 1976-77 and by scoring four points in each game, he was only the sixth player in NHL history to accomplish that and the first since John Cullen in 1990.

With two straight wins the Rangers looked to have a good season, but Zibanejad was scoreless in the next two games and the Blueshirts lost six of their next seven games.

Shorthanded specialist

On this date in 1983 Don Maloney scored two shorthanded goals in one game for the second time in his career as a Ranger, setting a franchise record. He did it in the season opener versus the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden, a 6-2 win for the Blueshirts.

Maloney went on to break his own record, scoring two shorthanded goals in a game for a third time in January 1987 against the Calgary Flames.  He remains the only New York Ranger to score more than one shorthanded goal in a single game.

He is one of four players in franchise history to score three shorthanded goals in one game, doing it the first time in 1981.   The NHL record belongs to Mario Lemieux who scored an incredible five shorthanded goals  in one game in 1988.

The Messiah’s debut

Mark Messier made his debut as a New York Ranger on this date in 1991 in a 2-1 road win over the Montreal Canadiens.   Just one day after his trade from the Edmonton Oilers, Messier played in his first game of the season after demanding a trade and holding out throughout training camp.

With his flair for the dramatic, Messier assisted on the first Ranger goal, scored by Doug Weight with less than six minutes left in the third period.  Rookie Sergei Nemchinov scored his first NHL goal to win the game in overtime and make Messier’s debut a success.

Today’s birthdays

22 NHL players have been born on October 5 with three former Rangers among them.

Lorne Chabot was born on this date in 1900 in Montreal, Quebec.  The goalie played two seasons for the Rangers including the 1927-28 Stanley Cup championship season. Signed by the Ranger he was their top goalie in their inaugural season, playing in 37 of 44 games.  He was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs before the 1928-29 season for goalie John Ross Roach.  He played 11 seasons in the NHL, winning the Vezina Trophy in 1935 for the Chicago Black Hawks.  Chabot’s tenure in New York is remembered for two things.  They called him Lorne Chabotsky in an effort to get more Jewish fans, something he objected to.  It was also the injury to Chabot in the 1928 Stanley Cup Final that forced coach Lester Patrick to play goal for the team, one of the high points in franchise history.

Dean Prentice was born on this date in 1932 in Schumacher, Ontario.  A left winger, Prentice played the first 11 seasons of a 22-year NHL career with the Rangers.  He was one of the top producers in the NHL while with the Rangers, skating on a line with Andy Bathgate and Larry Popein.  He is tenth all time in franchise history with 148 even strength goals.

Michael Grabner was born on October 5,1987 in Villach, Austria.  The right winger played two productive seasons with the Rangers after signing as a free agent in 2016.   His goals to assists ratio was remarkable as he scored 52 goals in 135 games, but notched only 19 assists. Even more remarkable was that 11 of those 52 goals were empty netters.  Grabner was traded to the New Jersey Devils in a deadline deal in February 2018, the first trade ever made between the two New York area teams.   Having also played for the Islanders, Grabner is one of 11 players to toil for all three teams.