May 3 in NYR history: What a difference a year makes

What happened on May 3 in the history of the New York Rangers

As the New York Rangers prepare for their first playoff series in five years, it’s time to look back on the events of one year ago, a game that turned into one of the biggest stories of the 2020-21 season and that had massive ramifications for the Rangers’ organization and its future.

It was just one year ago on this date in 2021 that Tom Wilson went berserk on the Madison Square Garden ice, assaulting a number of Rangers including “ragdolling” Artemi Panarin.  When the NHL failed to suspend the Capitals’ forward, the team issued an unprecedented statement criticizing the league and fired team President John Davidson and General Manager Jeff Gorton.

The incident began in the second period  in a scrum at the Capitals’ net when Wilson crosschecked a prone Pavel Buchnevich in the back of the head.  When Panarin jumped in to Buchnevich’s defense, Wilson attacked the Rangers’ star, roughing up the helmetless Panarin and slamming him to the ice.

Wilson was given a double minor for roughing and a 10 minute misconduct and mocked the Rangers from the penalty box.

While the Rangers were enraged by Wilson’s behavior, the referees and the NHL Department of Player Safety saw it differently and gave Wilson a slap on the wrist, fining him $5,000 for his altercation with Buchnevich and no disciplinary action for what he did to Panarin who missed the rest of the season.

As for the game, it was a 6-3 loss that meant the Rangers were eliminated from playoff contention.

While the “Tom Wilson Incident” will go down in Rangers history as one of its darkest chapters, the resulting changes in management, coaching and the roster resulted in one of the most successful seasons in Blueshirts’ history.

An OT loss to the Islanders in an epic series

On this date in 1979 the Rangers dropped a 3-2  overtime thriller to the New York Islanders in the second game of the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals.   It was a must-win game for the Islanders as they had dropped the first game of the series to the Rangers, 4-1, at Nassau Coliseum.  If they lost the second game at home it would have given the Rangers a commanding 2-0 lead heading back to Madison Square Garden.

The Rangers ultimately took the series from the favored Islanders in six games with both of the Isles wins coming in overtime.

20-year-old rookie Don Maloney scored both Ranger goals while the Islanders goals came from John Tonelli and Billy Harris while Bobby Nystrom scored the game winner 3:40 into overtime.

Today’s birthdays

32 NHL players have been born on May 3 including four former Rangers, one of whom was banished by the NHL for gambling infractions.

Paul Boutilier was born on this date in 1963 in  Sydney, Nova Scotia.  Originally a first round draft pick by the Islanders in 1981, the defenseman played five years with them before bouncing from Boston to Minnesota and finally ending up with the Rangers in 1987 for four games.  He was traded from the North Stars with Jari Gronstrand for Jay Caufield and  Dave Gagner, a deal that ended up one of the more one-sided in Blueshirts history. They flipped him to Winnipeg after two months with the Rangers organization.

Jeff Halpern was a center, born on this date in 1976 in Potomac, Maryland, a suburb of Washington DC and went on to play seven years for the Capitals, his hometown team. After Washington, he played for six different teams including the Rangers in 2012-13 when he was 36 years old.   He appeared in 30 games, notching one assist before he was waived and claimed by Montreal.

Scott Fraser was born on May 3, 1972 in Moncton, New Brunswick.  The center played three seasons in the NHL with three different teams: Montreal, Edmonton and the Rangers. After scoring 12 goals in 29 games for the Oilers, the Rangers signed him as a free agent in 1998.  Based on his season with the Oilers he tripled his pay when he was signed to a three year deal for $4 million. He never produced in New York, scoring only 2 goals in 28 games and was sent to Hartford where he played one season before retiring.

Billy Taylor was a center, born on May 3, 1919 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.  He made it to the NHL for seven seasons,  mostly for Toronto.  He was a Ranger for two games in the 1947-48 season when he was banned for life from the NHL by President Clarence Campbell on March 9, 1948.  The accusation was that he had bet against the Bruins that season along with a Bruins player named Don Gallinger.  The game was played just days after he had been traded from the Bruins to New York.  Taylor didn’t fight the ban which was ultimately lifted in 1970.   Coincidentally, Taylor’s son Billy also played for the Rangers in the 9164-65 season.  Like his dad, he played only two games in New York and failed to score.

The numbers

Not a great day in Rangers history with only one win in the five playoff games and the one regular season game.

Playoffs games: 5
Wins: 1
Losses: 3
Overtime losses: 1
Winning percentage: 20%

Regular season games: 1
Regulation wins: 0
Regulation losses: 1
Points percentage: .000