May 19 in Rangers history: Kreider sets an NHL record

What happened on May 19 in the history of the New York Rangers

On this date in 2012, Chris Kreider scored one of three goals by the New York Rangers in a 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils at the Prudential Center.  The win put the Rangers up 2-1 in their Eastern Conference Finals series.

For Kreider, it was his fifth goal of the playoffs and he set a record for the most playoffs goals by a player who had yet to play in the NHL regular season.  Kreider had joined the team directly from Boston College in time for the playoffs and he got off to a hot start as a pro.

Kreider broke Eddie Mazur’s record of four goals.  Mazur had scored two goals each in 1952 and 1953, before playing in a regular season game for the Canadiens.  Mazur was a big scorer for the Victoria Cougar of the WHL and the Habs recruited him just for the playoffs for three seasons.  He actually played 14 playoff games over three years before seeing NHL regular season action.

It was the last goal of the playoffs for Kreider who played 18 playoff games before making his NHL regular season debut the next season.

Matteau! Matteau!

We’ll call his name twice as this was the date of the first of two overtime goals scored by Stephane Matteau in the 1994 Eastern Conference Finals against the Devils.  While the second OT goal is more famous, the Rangers wouldn’t have gotten to a Game Seven if Matteau had not scored at 6:13 of the second overtime period in this game.

The win gave the Rangers a 2-1 lead in the series, as Matteau scored on the Rangers’ 50th shot of the game, beating Martin Brodeur.  The goal stunned the crowd at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford.  It was a precursor of the epic seventh game of the series as Valeri Zelepukin had scored the tying goal, but on a power play in the second period instead of the last minute of regulation.

A Final slipping away

On this date in 1979, the Rangers dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to the Montreal Canadiens, falling behind 3-1 in their Final series. The Rangers had won the first game of the Final and had blown a 2-0 lead in Game Two.

With a chance to tie the series on home ice, the Blueshirts took the lead three times, the last on a third period goal by Phil Esposito.  Bob Gainey tied the game on an unassisted goal just two minutes later to force overtime.

In a bizarre twist, early in the overtime Larry Robinson took a slapshot that beat John Davidson, but was in and out of the net so fast that the goal judge missed it and the goal was not counted.  There were no replays to consult and the word of the goal judge was final and despite the Canadiens’ protestations at the next play stoppage, the game continued.

At 7:25, Guy Lafleur set up Serge Savard for a backhand shot that eluded Davidson and the Canadiens won at 12:30am.  Montreal goalie Ken Dryden faced 21 shots while Davidson faced 42 shots including seven alone from Lafleur in the third period.

Down 3-1 in games, it was all over for the Blueshirts. Believe it or not, in the first 40 years since the NHL went to seven game playoff series format in 1939,  only two teams in league history had come back from a 1-3 deficit in a playoff series.  In the 43 years since 1979, it has been done 29 times, the last time this season by the Rangers against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

A new coach

On this date in 1975, the Rangers introduced Ron Stewart as their new coach. A former Blueshirts defenseman, Stewart had been coaching in the minor leagues after retiring as a player in 1973.  Stewart stated at his introductory press conference “I did not come here for three months” after signing a two year contract.

Little did he know.  Stewart was fired just 39 games into his first season when the Rangers got off to a 15-20-4 start.  His termination was part of a bloodbath with the Rangers firing Stewart and General Manager Emile Francis, replacing them both with John Ferguson.

Today’s birthdays

There have been 26 NHL players born on May 19 including six former Blueshirts.

Murray Murdoch was born on this date in 1904 in Lucknow, Ontario.  The left winger played 11 years in the NHL, all with the Rangers. He was a member of the inaugural Rangers team in 1926 and won two Stanley Cups in 1928 and 1933.  He was an iron man, leading the league in games played six times.

Alex Shibicky was born on this date in 1914 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He played his entire eight year NHL career with the Rangers, winning the Stanley Cup in 1940. The right winger topped the 20 goal mark once and is best known as the first player in NHL history to be awarded a penalty shot in the Stanley Cup Final.  It happened in the 1937 Final when they lost to Detroit.  Shibicky missed.

Carey Wilson was a center, born on this date in 1962 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A productive scorer for Calgary and Hartford, he was traded to the Rangers the day after Christmas 1988 for Don Maloney, Norm Maciver and Brian Lawton. Although he scored 21 goals in 1988-89, he was a disappointment with the Rangers and was traded back to Hartford for Jody Hull.

Mark Janssens was born on this date in 1968 in  Surrey, British Columbia.  Drafted by the Rangers in 1986, he played two full seasons for the Rangers before being traded to Minnesota.  The center was more notable for his fighting than his scoring as he totaled 161 ad 172 minutes in penalties in those two seasons. He ended up playing 711 games in the NHL over 14 years for seven teams.

Andrea Johansson was a center, born on May 19, 1973 in Hofors, Sweden.  An Islander draft pick, Johansson was claimed on waivers by the Rangers from Calgary in 2000 and played one full season with the Blueshirts, scoring 14 goals and 24 points in 70 games. He departed via free agency after that season.

Ivan Baranka was born on this date in 1985 in Ilava, Czechoslovakia.  He was a  Ranger draft pick in the second round of the 2003 draft and he played all of one game in the NHL for the Rangers.  The defenseman did get an assist in that one game in November 2007.     After three seasons with the Wolf Pack he returned to Europe and has had a long career in the KHL and the Czech Extraliga and has represented Slovakia in numerous international tournaments.

The numbers

Playoff games: 5
Wins: 2
Losses: 1
Overtime wins: 1
Overtime losses: 1
Winning percentage: 60 %