On January 16 in NYR history: 20 wins for Lundqvist for 13 straight seasons

What happened on January 16 in New York Rangers history

On this date in 2018, Henrik Lundqvist did something that no other goalie had done in NHL history. He won 20 games for the 13th straight season.  While six other goaltenders have notched 13 seasons with 20 wins, none had done it in consecutive season.

The landmark win was a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers at Madison Square Garden. He allowed one first period goal, then stoned the Flyers the rest of the way, making 25 saves.

Lundqvist had been tied with Martin Brodeur and Tony Esposito who both had done it for 12 straight seasons.  After a 5-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, Lundqvist stood alone.   He finished the season with 26 wins.

Unfortunately, the streak ended in 2018-19 when his win total slipped to 18.   Lundqvist was the only goalie in NHL history to record 11 30-win seasons in his first 12 years in the NHL, thwarted only by the lockout shortened 2012-13 season. In that season he led the league with 24 wins. If not for that labor dispute, he would have tied Martin Brodeur’s record of 12 straight 30-win seasons.   Lundqvist’s seven straight 30-win seasons is a franchise record.

The first successful penalty shot

On January 16, 1936, Bert Connally scored on a penalty shot  for the first time in New York Rangers history. It was the only goal in a 1-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs at Madison Square Garden.  The penalty was called just 32 seconds into the second period when the Leafs’ Buz Boll fouled Ranger Butch Keeling.  In those days, the coach could designate the the player to take the shot and Lester Patrick chose Connally.

13,000 fans witnessed Connally beat Toronto goalie George Hainsworth with a slapshot.

This was the fourth try for the Rangers since the penalty shot had been added by the NHL in the 1934-35 season. Bun Cook had failed twice and this was Connally’s second try.

The Rangers have scored on 31 of their 83 penalty shot attempts in franchise history, but have missed on their last eight tries.  Coincidentally, Paul Broten also scored on a penalty shot on this same date in 1992, in a 6-4 win over Calgary.

Scoring records set

In 1927 on this date the Rangers scored five goals in a game for the first time in franchise history at Madison Square Garden.  The new Blueshirts beat Chicago 5-4 , the second time in their history that they had reached that total.

In the team’s second game in their history, the Rangers had won in Toronto 5-1. It would be almost a year before they would score five goals in a game at the Garden again.

In 1966, Bobby Hull scored four goals and notched his 17th career hat trick and became the first player in Chicago Blackhawks history to reach the 300 goals mark.  It was to no avail as the Rangers won the game, 6-5.

Farewell to Oakland

On this date in 1976, ,the Rangers played their last game in Oakland, losing 7-0 to the California Golden Seals.  It was the Rangers worst loss to the franchise that was known as the Oakland and California Golden Seals before becoming the Cleveland Barons in 1976-77.   For the Golden Seals, it was some revenge for their 12-1 loss to the Rangers in 1971, the most goals ever scored by the Rangers in a game.

Today’s birthdays

21 NHL players were born on January 16 with six former Rangers in that group.

Jamie Lundmark was born in 1981 on this day in Edmonton, Albert.  He was one of two first round draft picks for the Rangers in 1999, known as the Pavel Brendl draft.  He never lived up to expectations as the ninth overall pick, playing 114 games at center for the Rangers and scoring 11 goals. He had stints in Calgary, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Toronto in an NHL career that spanned 295 games.

Lou Angotti was born on this date in 1938 in Toronto, Ontario. He played 70 games as a Ranger rookie in 1964-65 and 21 games into the next season he was traded to Chicago. The center played 10 years in the NHL before finishing his career in the WHA. He later served as coach of the St. Louis Blues and the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Jason Ward was born in  1979 in Chapleau, Ontario and was another one of the misguided free agent signings of the mid-2000s.   The defenseman is known for two things.  In 1999, while with Montreal, he scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game on his first NHL shot against Mike Richter and the Rangers at Madison Square Garden.  He is also known for being traded from the Blueshirts to Los Angeles for Sean Avery.

Scot Kleinendorst was one of two brothers drafted by the Rangers in 1980.  Born on this date in 1960 in Grand Rapids, Minnesota,  he made it to the NHL with the Rangers while his brother Kurt, never did.  The defenseman played 43 games in New York before his trade to Hartford.

Gary Burns was a left winger from Cambridge, Massachusetts who was born in 1955.  He made it to the Rangers for 11 games in the 1980-91 season after being signed as a free agent.

Daniel Goneau was born in 1976 in Montreal, Quebec.  He was a left winger who was drafted by New York in the second round of the 1996 draft.  He played some games in three seasons for the Rangers, scoring 12 goals in 53 games.

The numbers

The Rangers have played 41 times on January 16 and are one game over .500 in regulation.

Games: 41
Regulation wins: 18
Regulation losses: 17
Ties: 3
Overtime wins: 2
Shootout wins: 1
Points percentage:  .548