On December 26 in NYR history: Biggest comeback ever

What happened on December 26th in the history of the New York Rangers

If you were watching the Rangers on this date in 1991 and you didn’t turn the television off after the first period, you saw something you will never forget.  Down 6-1 in the first period, the Rangers rallied with seven straight goals and won in the biggest comeback in franchise history, winning 8-6.  The fact that they did it on the road is even more remarkable.

The Capitals came out and shelled Mike Richter, scoring six goals in just under 19 minutes.   The Blueshirts had tied the game a 1-1 on a Mark Messier goal,  but from then on it looked like it was going to be a massacre.   The Rangers took three penalties in the first period, but it was a Joe Cirella slash on Dino Ciccarelli that was the killer. Cirella was tossed from the game and given a five minute major and the Caps scored thee times for a 4-1 lead.  One more even strength goal and then came the dagger in the heart, a shorthanded goal by Michal Pivonka.  It gave Pivonka a hat trick and the shorthanded goal game him one of each kind as he had scored at even strength and on the power play.

When John Ogrodnick scored with one second left in the first period, it drew the Rangers within four goals, but it looked to be a meaningless tally.

Joe Kocur scored the only goal of the second period as John Vanbiesbrouck took over in net, but trailing 6-3 going into the third period, it looked like a sure loss against the first place Capitals.

Then, the miracle happened. Darren Turcotte score 2:10 into the period, making it 6-4.  Paul Broten scored a shorthanded goal at 5:41 to pull the Rangers within one. At 11:07, Kris King tied the game as the stunned fans fell silent.  Former Capital Mike Gartner put the Rangers ahead at 12:07 and Sergei Nemchinov sealed the win with the seventh straight goal into an open net.

Mike Liut was in goal for Washington as the Rangers outshot the Caps 31-7 over the last two periods.  The win gave the Blueshirts a seven game winning streak and a share of first place with the Capitals.

Without a doubt, this was one of the memorable games ever played by the New York Rangers.

Get Green!

On this date in 1965, the Rangers beat the Bruins 6-4 at Madison Square Garden. It was a classic Boston-New York battle with numerous penalties with 41 minutes handed out in the third period alone.  In fact, Ted Green of the Bruins set an NHL record at the time with three minors, two majors and two misconducts at MSG.

The second of his major penalties was for spearing Ranger Phil Goyette. Goyette, a perennial Lady Byng Trophy candidate, suffered a kidney injury that sidelined him for three weeks.  Green’s actions enraged the Rangers.  Coach Emile Francis called it “a deliberate attempt to injure.”

Rangers President Bill Jennings put a bounty on Green’s head, saying “I think the Bruins have wild animals on their team. When bears run wild in Maine, the state declares a bounty for shooting the bear. I declare a bounty on Green.”

That generated the popular chant from fans of “Get Green” whenever the Rangers played the Bruins for the next few years. Ironically, when the Rangers hired Ron Low as coach in 2000, one of his assistant coaches was none of the Rangers’ former public enemy number one, Ted Green.

On the road, but not on the road

In their inaugural 1926-27 season, the Rangers played 22 road games.  In one of the curiosities of the early NHL, there was a time when the Rangers played on the road, but at Madison Square Garden. It happened for the first time on this date in 1926.

How?  It came about whenever the Rangers played the New York Americans who shared Madison Square Garden as their home rink.    In this case, the Americans prevailed 5-2.  The Blueshirts did win their second “road” game 4-1 at Madison Square Garden over the Americans in February.

A milestone for Gartner

On this date in 1993, Mike Gartner became the sixth NHL player to score 600 goals.  He scored twice to get to 601 in an 8-3 win over the New Jersey Devils at Madison Square Garden.  He retired with 708 career goals, 173 with the Blueshirts.

As of 2021, there have now been 20 players who have reached the 600 goal milestone. Sidney Crosby is the only active player anywhere near the milestone and he is over 100 goals away.

Czechmate

On this date in1977 two teams from Czechoslovakia and one team from Russia began a tour of the United States.  The first game was between Poldi Kladno and the Rangers  and it ended in a 4-4 tie before 10,123 fans at Madison Square Garden.

Dave Maloney scored the tying goal with 15 second left and the goalie pulled. As was common at the time, the Czech team played with finesse and the Rangers tried to bludgeon them into submission.   Nick Fotiu pummelled Czech defender Jan Neliba in the third period and Fotiu, Pat Hickey and Carol Vadnais threw body checks with abandon.

This was the first time New Yorkers got a look at Peter and Marian Stastny who played for Poldi Kladno.   Peter Stastny made headlines when he and his brother Anton, defected in 1980 to join the Quebec Nordiques. They were two of the first star hockey players to defect from the eastern bloc to the west.

Today’s birthdays

12 NHL players have been born on December 26 with one a former New York Ranger.

Mark Heaslip was born on December 26, 1951 in Duluth, Minnesota. Heaslip was an undrafted right winger out of Minnesota-Duluth who played two season for the Rangers.  He scored six goals and 16 points in 48 games for New York from 1976-78.  He finished his NHL career with one season in Los Angeles.