What happened on December 13 in the history of the New York Rangers
The Montreal Canadiens are a team the New York Rangers would rather not talk about. They have lost 335 times to Montreal, more than any other NHL team. Their points percentage of .394 is the worst against any team in the NHL. Let’s not even talk about the 24 Stanley Cups the Canadiens have won, compared to the four for the Rangers.
Since 1926 the Canadiens had humiliated the Rangers five times by scoring in double figures against the Blueshirts. They even did it once at Madison Square Garden, an 11-5 slugfest in 1945.
On this date in 1992, the New York Rangers finally got back at the nemesis. After 67 years and 535 games, the Rangers finally hit double figures in a game against the Montreal Canadiens.
The final score was 10-5 and it was a thrilling night for Rangers fans. It was also a comeback night for Mike Richter who had been benched for three games after being pulled in a 8-4 loss to the Capitals a week earlier. Not only had John Vanbiesbrouck started the last three games, but the Rangers had called Corey Hirsch up from Binghamton to back up the Beezer as Richter watched from the press box.
The teams were tied 2-2 after the first period, but the Rangers’ goal explosion started just one minute into the second period and they went on to outscore the Habs 8-3 the rest of the way. Sergei Nemchinov and Doug Weight each scored twice to lead the team. 14 different Rangers made the score sheet and even Richter got into the action with a second period assist.
It was a record setting night for Alex Kovalev who became the youngest Ranger to get four points in one game. Kovalev was 19 years old and had one goal and three assists. Kovalev was playing on a kid line with second year center Doug Weight and fellow rookie Steven King. That line accounted for four goals and ten points in the contest.
For the Blueshirts, it was the 18th time the team had scored 10 or more goals in a game, a feat they have accomplished only once since then.
Today’s birthdays
18 NHL players have been born on December 13 with three of them former Rangers.
Kevin Klein was born on this date in 1984 in Kitchener, Ontario. He had played five full seasons in Nashville when he was traded to the Rangers in 2014 for Michael Del Zotto. The 29-year old defenseman became a key piece of the made it to the Stanley Cup Final that season and was a fixture on the blue line for three more seasons. He was forced to retire due to back issues but made a comeback in Switzerland where he played two more seasons.
Don Johns was born on December 13, 1937 in St. George, Ontario. He was a defenseman who played 148 games for the Rangers between 1960 and 1965 before he was traded to Chicago. He is remembered for playing one game for the Canadiens in 1966. After the game he learned his mother had died and he left the team to attend the funeral, but without a phone number for the Montreal GM he never told anyone and was considered AWOL and never played again for the Habs. He played four games for the expansion North Stars in 1967.
Len Wharton was born on this date in 1937 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He is one of 39 former players who played only one game in the NHL, for the Rangers. The defenseman’s one game was in March 1945 against the Maple Leafs. He did play for 10 years in the minor leagues.
The numbers
The Rangers have played 35 games on December 13 in their history and it hasn’t been a bad day for them with only 13 regulation losses.
Games: 35
Regulation wins: 16
Regulation losses: 13
Ties: 3
Overtime wins: 1
Shootout wins: 1
Overtime losses: 1
Points percentage: .571