January 19 in NYR history: Spreading out the scoring

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

On this date in 2010, the Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Lightning by the score of 8-2 in front of a delighted crowd at Madison Square Garden.  While it was the first time in over eight years that the Blueshirts had scored eight goals in a game, what made it unusual was that eight different Rangers scored in the game.

16 different Ranger players made it on the scoresheet with Marian Gaborik leading the way with four points.  The goals scorers were (in order): Brandon Dubinsky, Vinny Prospal, Chris Drury, Dan Girardi, Enver Lisin, Marc Staal, Aaron Voros and Chris Higgins.

The Blueshirts spread out the scoring, with three in the first, two in the second and three in the third.  The goalies they victimized were Antero Niittymaki who gave up five goals in 35 minutes and Dustin Tokarski who gave up three goals relieving Niittymaki in the second period.

Eight different Rangers have scored in a single game numerous times in franchise history. The last time it was exceeded was when nine different Blueshirts scored in an 11-4 win over the Minnesota North Stars on December 4, 1976.

The last time eight different players scored in a game was on April 6 last season when they beat the Penguins 8-3.

Hockey returns

In 2013, the third lockout in the history of the NHL ended as the New York Rangers took on the Boston Bruins, losing 3-1 at TD Garden.   Scheduled to start on October11, the season was delayed until this date when the owners and the NHLPA were unable to reach an agreement on a new contract.

With the resumption of the season, the NHL played a 48 game campaign that ended on April 28. The Rangers have not fared well in return from labor disputes.  The first NHL strike was in April, 1992 and it lasted ten days.  In their first game back, they lost to Toronto.

When the 1994-95 lockout ended, the Rangers lost their first game back to Buffalo.  It wasn’t a labor dispute this season as the COVID-19 pandemic caused a shortened and delayed season, but the Blueshirts still [ost 4-0 to the Islanders.  They did win after the cancelled 2004-05 season, beating the Flyers in their first season opener after that dispute.

A pair of personal records

On this date in 2019, two Rangers set records in a 3-2 win in Boston.    Henrik Lundqvist moved into sixth place all-time in wins with his 446th victory.  He passed Terry Sawchuk and was eight behind Curtis Joseph in fifth place. Lundqvist made 27 saves to get the win.

Hockey purists will say that Lundqvist benefited from overtime and shootouts over his career as 102 of his wins came about that way.  Sawchuk’s record included 171 ties.  Others will point out that Lundqvist reached the 446 win mark in 840 games while it took Sawchuk 971 games to reach 445 wins.

In the same game, Mika Zibanejad registered the third Rangers’ goal, his third straight game-winning tally.  With that he tied a Rangers record, matching the feat by Rod Gilbert who also had three straight game winners in 1966.

Today’s birthdays

24 NHL players were born on January 19, but only two played for the Rangers.

Ian Laperriere was born on this date in 1974 in Montreal, Quebec.  He had a brief 28 game career in New York, but played 16 years in the NHL, mostly with Los Angeles.  He was a high energy right winger who totaled over 100 penalty minutes in a season 13 times.  Acquired from St. Louis in a trade for Stephane Matteau, Laperriere was later part of one of the worst trades in Blueshirt history.  The March 1996 trade setd Laperriere, defenseman Mattias Norstrom, centers Ray Ferraro and Nathan LaFayette and a draft pick to the Kings for Jari Kurri, Marty McSorley and Shane Churla.   Those players appeared in a combined 1,666 games for the Kings while the Rangers trio played in a total of 78 games in New York. Laperriere is currently an AHL coach in the Philadelphia Flyers organization.

Art Somers was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on this date in 1902. He was a member of the 1933 Rangers who won the Stanley Cup.  The center played six years in the NHL, beginning his career in Chicago before a trade to New York.  He led the league twice in games played.

The numbers

The Rangers have played 41 times on January 19, winning 21 times for a .549 winning percentage.

Games: 41
Regulation wins: 19
Regulation losses: 16
Ties: 4
Overtime wins:  1
Shootout losses: 1
Points percentage: .549