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1994–95 New York Rangers season

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1994–95 New York Rangers
Division4th Atlantic
Conference8th Eastern
1994–95 record22–23–3
Home record11–10–3
Road record11–13–0
Goals for139
Goals against134
Team information
General managerNeil Smith
CoachColin Campbell
CaptainMark Messier
Alternate captainsAdam Graves
Brian Leetch
ArenaMadison Square Garden
Average attendance18,194 (99.9%)
Minor league affiliate(s)Binghamton Rangers
Team leaders
GoalsAdam Graves (17)
AssistsMark Messier (39)
PointsMark Messier (53)
Penalty minutesNick Kypreos (93)
Plus/minusAdam Graves (+9)
WinsMike Richter (14)
Goals against averageGlenn Healy (2.36)

The 1994–95 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 69th season. The season was shortened to 48 games due to the 1994–95 NHL lockout.

For the third time in as many years, the Rangers started the season with a different head coach. Mike Keenan, who had led the team to the Stanley Cup one year earlier, left to become head coach and general manager of the St. Louis Blues under controversial circumstances. Colin Campbell was hired to replace him and the Blues sent Petr Nedved to the Rangers as compensation for Keenan, with Doug Lidster and Esa Tikkanen sent to St. Louis with their former coach.

The Rangers barely qualified for the playoffs in the shortened season, finishing one point ahead of the Florida Panthers for the last spot in the Eastern Conference. The team advanced to the second round of the playoffs, where they fell in a sweep to the Philadelphia Flyers.

Regular season

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Final standings

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Atlantic Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 2 Philadelphia Flyers 48 28 16 4 150 132 60
2 5 New Jersey Devils 48 22 18 8 136 121 52
3 6 Washington Capitals 48 22 18 8 136 120 52
4 8 New York Rangers 48 22 23 3 139 134 47
5 9 Florida Panthers 48 20 22 6 115 127 46
6 12 Tampa Bay Lightning 48 17 28 3 120 144 37
7 13 New York Islanders 48 15 28 5 126 158 35

[1]

Note: No. = Division rank, CR = Conference rank, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Eastern Conference[2]
R Div GP W L T GF GA Pts
1 Quebec Nordiques NE 48 30 13 5 185 134 65
2 Philadelphia Flyers AT 48 28 16 4 150 132 60
3 Pittsburgh Penguins NE 48 29 16 3 181 158 61
4 Boston Bruins NE 48 27 18 3 150 127 57
5 New Jersey Devils AT 48 22 18 8 136 121 52
6 Washington Capitals AT 48 22 18 8 136 120 52
7 Buffalo Sabres NE 48 22 19 7 130 119 51
8 New York Rangers AT 48 22 23 3 139 134 47
9 Florida Panthers AT 48 20 22 6 115 127 46
10 Hartford Whalers NE 48 19 24 5 127 141 43
11 Montreal Canadiens NE 48 18 23 7 125 148 43
12 Tampa Bay Lightning AT 48 17 28 3 120 144 37
13 New York Islanders AT 48 15 28 5 126 158 35
14 Ottawa Senators NE 48 9 34 5 117 174 23

Divisions: AT – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs


Playoffs

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The Rangers faced the first-place Quebec Nordiques in the first round of the playoffs. They narrowly lost Game 1, 5–4, as the Nordiques were powered by Joe Sakic's hat-trick. New York came back in game 2, winning 8–3. Sergei Nemchinov and Petr Nedved each scored twice. After edging the Nordiques 4–3 in Game 3, the Rangers found themselves trailing 2–0 in Game 4. They would tie it up on goals by Brian Leetch and Alexei Kovalev. Steve Larmer scored the winner at 8:09 of the first overtime period. Facing elimination, the Nordiques played a determined Game 5 at home and won 4–2 to cut New York's lead in the series to 3–2. The Rangers, at home for Game 6, built up a 4–0 lead and ended up winning 4–2, to eliminate the Nordiques four games to two. The Nordiques moved to Colorado almost immediately, as the announcement came on May 25, 1995.

In the second round, the Rangers faced a determined Philadelphia Flyers team that was led by the "Legion of Doom" line. In Game 1, the Rangers jumped out to a 2–0 lead after the first period on power-play goals by Brian Leetch and Petr Nedved. With the help of John LeClair's hat trick, the Flyers took a 4–3 lead in the third period. With only 19 seconds remaining, Pat Verbeek tied the game at 4–4. However, it was the Flyers who would ultimately win the game, as Eric Desjardins scored at 7:03 of the first overtime period. Game 2 started nearly identically to Game 1, as New York led 2–0 after the first period on power-play goals. Both were scored by Brian Leetch. Philadelphia re-gained control of the game as they had in Game 1, leading 3–2 midway through the third period. With under eight minutes to go, Leetch completed his hat trick to tie the score at 3–3. This game also went into overtime, and the Flyers needed only 25 seconds to win it, as defenseman Kevin Haller scored his 3rd of the playoffs to give Philadelphia a 2–0 lead in the series. The Flyers went on to dominate Games 3 and 4 at Madison Square Garden in New York, winning 5–2 and 4–1 to complete the sweep.

Schedule and results

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Regular season

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1994–95 regular season[3]
January: 2–4–0 (home: 2–3–0; road: 0–1–0)
Game Date Opponent Score Record Recap
1 January 20, 1995 Buffalo Sabres 2–1 0–1–0 Recap
2 January 21, 1995 Montreal Canadiens 5–2 1–1–0 Recap
3 January 23, 1995 Boston Bruins 2–1 1–2–0 Recap
4 January 25, 1995 Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 1–3–0 Recap
5 January 28, 1995 @ Quebec Nordiques 2–0 1–4–0 Recap
6 January 30, 1995 Ottawa Senators 6–2 2–4–0 Recap
February: 7–4–3 (home: 1–1–3; road: 6–3–0)
Game Date Opponent Score Record Recap
7 February 1, 1995 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 4–3 2–5–0 Recap
8 February 2, 1995 Tampa Bay Lightning 3–3 OT 2–5–1 Recap
9 February 4, 1995 @ Ottawa Senators 2–1 3–5–1 Recap
10 February 8, 1995 Washington Capitals 5–4 4–5–1 Recap
11 February 9, 1995 @ New Jersey Devils 4–1 4–6–1 Recap
12 February 11, 1995 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 3–2 5–6–1 Recap
13 February 15, 1995 @ Buffalo Sabres 2–1 6–6–1 Recap
14 February 16, 1995 Montreal Canadiens 2–2 OT 6–6–2 Recap
15 February 18, 1995 @ Montreal Canadiens 5–2 6–7–2 Recap
16 February 20, 1995 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 3–1 7–7–2 Recap
17 February 21, 1995 @ Florida Panthers 5–3 8–7–2 Recap
18 February 24, 1995 Hartford Whalers 2–1 8–8–2 Recap
19 February 26, 1995 @ Buffalo Sabres 4–2 9–8–2 Recap
20 February 28, 1995 Florida Panthers 0–0 OT 9–8–3 Recap
March: 4–8–0 (home: 3–3–0; road: 1–5–0)
Game Date Opponent Score Record Recap
21 March 1, 1995 @ Hartford Whalers 5–2 10–8–3 Recap
22 March 3, 1995 Philadelphia Flyers 5–3 11–8–3 Recap
23 March 5, 1995 @ Washington Capitals 4–2 11–9–3 Recap
24 March 6, 1995 Ottawa Senators 4–3 12–9–3 Recap
25 March 8, 1995 New Jersey Devils 6–4 13–9–3 Recap
26 March 11, 1995 @ Montreal Canadiens 3–1 13–10–3 Recap
27 March 15, 1995 Philadelphia Flyers 4–3 13–11–3 Recap
28 March 18, 1995 @ Washington Capitals 4–1 13–12–3 Recap
29 March 22, 1995 New Jersey Devils 5–2 13–13–3 Recap
30 March 23, 1995 @ New York Islanders 1–0 13–14–3 Recap
31 March 25, 1995 @ Quebec Nordiques 2–1 13–15–3 Recap
32 March 30, 1995 Quebec Nordiques 5–4 13–16–3 Recap
April: 9–6–0 (home: 5–2–0; road: 4–4–0)
Game Date Opponent Score Record Recap
33 April 1, 1995 @ Boston Bruins 3–2 14–16–3 Recap
34 April 2, 1995 @ Philadelphia Flyers 4–2 14–17–3 Recap
35 April 5, 1995 @ Florida Panthers 5–0 15–17–3 Recap
36 April 7, 1995 New York Islanders 4–3 15–18–3 Recap
37 April 9, 1995 @ New Jersey Devils 2–0 15–19–3 Recap
38 April 12, 1995 Buffalo Sabres 3–1 16–19–3 Recap
39 April 14, 1995 Boston Bruins 5–3 17–19–3 Recap
40 April 16, 1995 @ New York Islanders 3–2 18–19–3 Recap
41 April 18, 1995 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 6–5 18–20–3 Recap
42 April 20, 1995 Hartford Whalers 3–2 19–20–3 Recap
43 April 23, 1995 @ Boston Bruins 5–4 19–21–3 Recap
44 April 24, 1995 Washington Capitals 5–4 20–21–3 Recap
45 April 26, 1995 Tampa Bay Lightning 6–4 21–21–3 Recap
46 April 28, 1995 New York Islanders 4–2 21–22–3 Recap
47 April 30, 1995 @ Philadelphia Flyers 2–0 22–22–3 Recap
May: 0–1–0 (home: 0–1–0; road: 0–0–0)
Game Date Opponent Score Record Recap
48 May 2, 1995 Florida Panthers 4–3 22–23–3 Recap
Legend:

  Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

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1995 Stanley Cup playoffs[3]
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (1) Quebec Nordiques – Rangers win 4–2
Game Date Opponent Score Series Recap
1 May 6, 1995 @ Quebec Nordiques 5–4 Nordiques lead 1–0 Recap
2 May 8, 1995 @ Quebec Nordiques 8–3 Series tied 1–1 Recap
3 May 10, 1995 Quebec Nordiques 4–3 Rangers lead 2–1 Recap
4 May 12, 1995 Quebec Nordiques 3–2 OT Rangers lead 3–1 Recap
5 May 14, 1995 @ Quebec Nordiques 4–2 Rangers lead 3–2 Recap
6 May 16, 1995 Quebec Nordiques 4–2 Rangers win 4–2 Recap
Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (2) Philadelphia Flyers – Flyers win 4–0
Game Date Opponent Score Series Recap
1 May 21, 1995 @ Philadelphia Flyers 5–4 OT Flyers lead 1–0 Recap
2 May 22, 1995 @ Philadelphia Flyers 4–3 OT Flyers lead 2–0 Recap
3 May 24, 1995 Philadelphia Flyers 5–2 Flyers lead 3–0 Recap
4 May 26, 1995 Philadelphia Flyers 4–1 Flyers win 4–0 Recap
Legend:

  Win   Loss

Player statistics

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Scoring

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  • Position abbreviations: C = Center; D = Defense; G = Goaltender; LW = Left Wing; RW = Right Wing
  • † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.
  • ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.
No. Player Pos Regular season Playoffs
GP G A Pts +/- PIM GP G A Pts +/- PIM
11 Mark Messier C 46 14 39 53 8 40 10 3 10 13 −11 8
2 Brian Leetch D 48 9 32 41 0 18 10 6 8 14 −1 8
21 Sergei Zubov D 38 10 26 36 −2 18 10 3 8 11 −9 2
9 Adam Graves LW 47 17 14 31 9 51 10 4 4 8 −13 8
28 Steve Larmer RW 47 14 15 29 8 16 10 2 2 4 −5 6
27 Alexei Kovalev C 48 13 15 28 −6 30 10 4 7 11 2 10
16 Brian Noonan RW 45 14 13 27 −3 26 5 0 0 0 0 8
10 Petr Nedved C 46 11 12 23 −1 26 10 3 2 5 −4 6
17 Pat Verbeek RW 19 10 5 15 −2 18 10 4 6 10 −8 20
13 Sergei Nemchinov LW 47 7 6 13 −6 16 10 4 5 9 6 2
25 Alexander Karpovtsev D 47 4 8 12 −4 30 8 1 0 1 −1 0
24 Jay Wells D 43 2 7 9 0 36 10 0 0 0 −4 8
32 Stephane Matteau LW 41 3 5 8 −8 25 9 0 1 1 −1 10
4 Kevin Lowe D 44 1 7 8 −2 58 10 0 1 1 −5 12
23 Jeff Beukeboom D 44 1 3 4 3 70 9 0 0 0 1 10
19 Nick Kypreos LW 40 1 3 4 0 93 10 0 2 2 3 6
20 Mark Osborne LW 37 1 3 4 −2 19 7 1 0 1 1 2
12 Eddie Olczyk LW 20 2 1 3 −2 4
26 Joe Kocur RW 48 1 2 3 −4 71 10 0 0 0 0 8
5 Mattias Norstrom D 9 0 3 3 2 2 3 0 0 0 −1 0
15 Darren Langdon LW 18 1 1 2 0 62
30 Glenn Healy G 17 0 2 2 2 5 0 0 0 0
29 Joby Messier D 10 0 2 2 2 18
6 Glen Featherstone D 6 1 0 1 0 18
39 Shawn McCosh C 5 1 0 1 1 2
8 Jean-Yves Roy RW 3 1 0 1 −1 2
18 Mike Hartman LW 1 0 0 0 0 4
37 Daniel Lacroix C 1 0 0 0 0 0
22 Nathan LaFayette C 12 0 0 0 1 0 8 0 0 0 −1 2
14 Troy Loney LW 4 0 0 0 −2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
35 Mike Richter G 35 0 0 0 2 7 0 0 0 0

Goaltending

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No. Player Regular season Playoffs
GP W L T SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI GP W L SA GA GAA SV% SO TOI
35 Mike Richter 35 14 17 2 884 97 2.92 .890 2 1993 7 2 5 189 23 3.60 .878 0 384
30 Glenn Healy 17 8 6 1 377 35 2.36 .907 1 888 5 2 1 93 13 3.39 .860 0 230

Awards and records

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Awards

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Type Award/honor Recipient Ref
League
(annual)
Lester Patrick Trophy Brian Mullen [4]
Team Ceil Saidel Memorial Award Adam Graves [5]
"Crumb Bum" Award Mark Messier [5]
Frank Boucher Trophy Mark Messier [5]
Good Guy Award Kevin Lowe [5]
Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award Mattias Norstrom [5]
Players' Player Award Adam Graves [5]
Rangers MVP Mark Messier [5]
Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award Mark Messier [5]

Milestones

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Milestone Player Date Ref
First game Jean-Yves Roy January 25, 1995 [6]
Darren Langdon February 18, 1995
1,000th point Steve Larmer March 8, 1995 [7]
1,000th game played Steve Larmer April 20, 1995 [8]
Jay Wells April 30, 1995 [9]

Transactions

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  • July 24, 1994 – Doug Lidster was traded by the New York Rangers, along with Esa Tikkanen, to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for Petr Nedved.
  • March 23, 1995 – Hartford obtained D Glen Featherstone, D Michael Stewart and a first-round pick in the 1995 Entry Draft (Jean-Sebastien Giguere) and a fourth-round pick in the 1996 Entry Draft in exchange for RW Pat Verbeek.

Draft picks

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New York's picks at the 1994 NHL Entry Draft in Hartford, Connecticut, at the Hartford Civic Center.[10]

Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 26 Dan Cloutier G  Canada Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
2 52 Rudolf Vercik LW  Slovakia Slovan Bratislava (Slovak Extraliga)
3 78 Adam Smith D  Canada Tacoma Rockets (WHL)
4 100 Alexander Korobolin D  Russia Chelyabinsk Mechel (Rus-1)
4 104 Sylvain Blouin LW  Canada Laval Titan (QMJHL)
5 130 Martin Ethier D  Canada Beauport Harfangs (QMJHL)
6 135 Yuri Litvinov C  Russia PHC Krylya Sovetov (Russia)
6 156 David Brosseau RW  Canada Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL)
7 182 Alexei Lazarenko RW  Ukraine CSKA Moscow (Russia)
8 208 Craig Anderson D  United States Park Center Senior High School (USHS-MN)
9 209 Vitali Yeremeyev G  Kazakhstan HC Kamenogorsk (Russia)
9 234 Eric Boulton LW  Canada Oshawa Generals (OHL)
10 260 Radoslav Kropac F  Slovakia Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)
11 267 Jamie Butt LW  Canada Tacoma Rockets (WHL)
11 286 Kim Johnsson D  Sweden Malmö IF (SEL)

References

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  • "New York Rangers 1994-95 roster and scoring statistics at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  • "1994-95 New York Rangers Roster, Stats, Injuries, Scores, Results, Shootouts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  1. ^ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 154. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  2. ^ "1994-1995 Conference Standings Standings - NHL.com - Standings". NHL.
  3. ^ a b "1994-95 New York Rangers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved September 6, 2023.
  4. ^ "Lester Patrick Trophy". records.nhl.com. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h 2014–15 New York Rangers Media Guide. New York Rangers. 2014. pp. 349–352.
  6. ^ "1994-95 NHL Debuts". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  7. ^ "NHL / Larmer's Point Sparks Rangers / 43rd player to reach 1,000". sfgate.com. March 9, 1995. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  8. ^ Lapointe, Joe (April 21, 1995). "HOCKEY; Nedved's Questionable Goal Is the Right Answer". The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2023. Last night's game was the 1,000th of STEVE LARMER's career
  9. ^ Yannis, Alex (May 3, 1995). "HOCKEY; Only Sure Thing for Rangers: 8th Place". The New York Times. Retrieved September 11, 2023. JAY WELLS was honored before the game for playing his 1,000th game in the National Hockey League Sunday at Philadelphia.
  10. ^ "1994 NHL Entry Draft Picks at hockeydb.com". www.hockeydb.com. Retrieved September 6, 2023.