On January 14 in NYR history: A shorthanded record for Don Maloney

What happened on January 14 in New York Rangers history

On this date in 1987, Don Maloney set a franchise record with two shorthanded goal, becoming the only New York Ranger to score two or more shorthanded goals in a game three times.  He broke his own team record as he had become the first with multiple “shorties” in the same game.

It’s not an NHL record as two NHLers had multiple shorthanded goal game four times.  They were pretty good players named Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux.

Maloney did it in an 8-5 win over the Calgary Flames at the Saddledome.  He scored both shorthanded goals in the first period as the Rangers scored twice on the power play and twice on the penalty kill, a pretty good period for their special teams.

Maloney had previously had two shorthanded goals in a game in a 6-4 win over Washington at Madison Square Garden on February 21, 1981. He had set the franchise record with his second multi-shorthanded goal game on October 5, 1983 in a 6-2 win over the Devils at MSG.

The only other Ranger with two shorthanded goals in a game was Ron Duguay who did it in 1980.

200 wins for the Rangers and the coach

On this date in 1936, the New York Rangers became the fifth team in the NHL to get to the 200 win mark and coach Lester Patrick became the first NHL coach to win 200 games.  Of the “Original Six” teams, the Rangers got to the 200 win mark before Chicago and Detroit.  The teams who attained the milestone before New York were the Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leaf, Boston Bruins and Montreal Maroons.

Though they came into the league at the same time, the Rangers got to the 200 win milestone faster than the Chicago Blackhawks who did it in March 1936 and the Detroit Red Wings who got there in January 1937.

Lester Patrick is the winningest coach in New York Rangers franchise history with 281 victories.  He also leads with 604 games coached.   He is the only Rangers coach to win more than one Stanley Cup, leading them to championships in 1928 and 1933.  He is tied with Vigneault for the most playoff wins for Rangers coaches with 31.

Believe it or not, Alain Vigneault is next on the list with 226 wins.  David Quinn got as far as 11th  on the list with 96 wins.   Here are the top five Rangers coaches:

1. Lester Patrick  – 281 wins
2. Alain Vigneault – 226 wins
3. Emile Francis – 201 wins
4. John Tortorella – 171 wins
5. Frank Boucher – 167 wins

Two big comebacks

When the Rangers beat the Atlanta Flames 6-4 at the Omni in Atlanta n this date in 1979, they became the first NHL team to come back from three goal deficits in two straight wins.  They went into the third period trailing 4-1 and scored five straight goals for the win.

Four days earlier in Colorado, the Rockies had jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period only for the Rangers to score five straight goals for the 5-3 win.

Since that date, seven other teams have accomplished the same feat including the 1984 Rangers, the only team to do it twice. The last  team was the Arizona Coyotes last season.

Some firsts

Two expansion teams played their first games at Madison Square Garden on this date.  In 2001, the Minnesota Wild came to the Garden for the first time, dropping a 4-2 decision to the Blueshirts.

In 2002, the Columbus Blue Jackets played their first game at Madison Square Garden, coming away with a 2-2 tie.

Finally, on this date in 1928, defenseman Hap Day scored the first hat trick by a defenseman in Toronto Maple Leafs history in a 6-1 win over the Rangers in Toronto.  All three goals were unassisted.

The strangest season

One year ago, the Rangers lost 4-0 to the New York Islanders, kicking off the strangest season in NHL history.  It was the first game of the 2020-21 season, delayed and abbreviated by the COVID-19 pandemic.   With travel limited by COVID restrictions, the league was restructured into four regional divisions and all play was within their own divisions.

Playing in front of no fans at the start of the season, the teams played 56 game schedules and the Rangers finished fifth in the Eastern Division, missing the playoffs for the fourth straight year.

Today’s birthdays

23 NHL players have been born on January 14 with three of them New York Rangers.   There are two Ranger prospects who were born on this date as well.

Goalie prospect Tyler Wall was born on January 14 in 1998 in Leamington, Ontario.  Drafted in the sixth round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft at #174 overall.  He finished four years at UMass-Lowell before turning pro and he is in his second year in the AHL with the Wolf Pack.

Eric Ciccolini was born on this date on 2001 in Vaughan, Ontario.  The right winger was a seventh round pick (#205) in 2019 and is currently playing at the University of Michigan.  The Wolverines junior is out for the season with a lower body injury after playing only four games.

Babe Siebert was born on this date in 1904 in Plattsville, Ontario.  Inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1964, he was a left winger who also played defense for 14 years in the NHL.  He played only 56 games with the Rangers in 1932-33 and 1933-34  The Rangers traded him to Boston who flipped him to Montreal where he won the Hart Trophy in 1937.  He was a member of the  Stanley Cup winning Rangers team in 1933.

On January 14, 1964, Sergei Nemchinov was born in Moscow, Russia.  A member of the 1994 Stanley Cup winning team, he was one of four Russian players on that team to be the first from that country to have their names engraved on the Cup.  A 12th round pick in 1990, Nemchinov played six years with the Rangers before being traded to Vancouver.  Known as “Sarge,” Nemchinov is part of the exclusive club of players who have toiled for all three metropolitan area teams.

Peter Holland was born on this date in 1991 in Toronto, Ontario. He played 23 games for the Rangers in the  2017-18 season, acquired in a trade from Montreal.  After a season in the AHL, Holland left for the KHL and is now playing in Sweden.

The numbers

The Rangers have played 50 games on January 14, the most of any day in the month and the Blueshirts are just under .500.

Games: 50
Regulation wins: 20
Regulation losses: 23
Ties: 6
Overtime wins: 1
Points percentage:  .480