What happened on April 19 in the history of the New York Rangers
April 19 marks the anniversary of the worst defeat ever suffered by the New York Rangers in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. On this date in 1986, the Rangers were beaten by the Washington Capitals by the score of 8-1 in Game Two of the Patrick Division Finals. The Capitals knotted the series at one game apiece, but the Rangers would go on to win in six games.
The eight goals were the most ever allowed by the Blueshirts in the playoffs, but this team was not the only one to allow that many. Three other Ranger squads had allowed eight goals, but none of them had lost by seven goals. The seven goal margin matched the Rangers’ worst, a 7-0 shellacking by the Montreal Canadiens in 1956.
In this series the Rangers dropped Game Three, but came roaring back to win the last three games to take the series. They then lost the Conference Finals to Montreal in five games.
Rookie success at the Rangers’ expense
In 2016, the Pittsburgh Penguins took a 2-1 lead in their Eastern Conference First Round series, behind the netminding of rookie Matt Murray. With Murray winning in his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut, he joined Jeff Zatkoff who had won Game One in his playoff debut.
It was the first time in playoffs history that a team had two goalies make their debuts in the same series and both win. Zatkoff had stood in the injured Marc Andre Fleury and Murray who was also injured. When Zatkoff lost Game Two and Murray was healthy enough to play, the Pens went with their rookie who had played in 13 games after his promotion from the AHL in December.
The Rangers were one season removed from winning the Presidents’ Trophy and had finished third in the Metropolitan Division with 101 points. Knowing the Penguins were down to two rookie goalies, the Blueshirts were licking their chops over this first round meeting. With Murray in goal the Penguins won three in a row outscoring the Rangers 14-4. The Penguins went on to win the first of two consecutive Stanley Cups.
Today’s birthdays
22 NHL players have been born on April 19 including two former Blueshirts.
Steven Fogarty was born on this date in 1993 in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. A third round pick in 2011 out of Notre Dame, Fogarty made it to the Rangers for 18 games over three seasons. The Rangers didn’t offer the center a contract and he signed with Buffalo.
Jarkko Immonen was born on this date in 1982 in Rantasalmi, Finland. A center, he was traded to the Rangers in the big deadline deal that sent Brian Leetch to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He played 20 games for the Ranges over two seasons, scoring three goals. He scored 50 goals in two season in Hartford then returned to Europe to play in Finland and the KHL.
The numbers
Playoff games: 8
Wins: 3
Losses: 5
Winning percentage: 38%
Regular season games: 1
Regulation wins: 1
Regulation losses: 0
Points percentage: 1.000