1994–95 New York Rangers season

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

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%)
Team leaders
GoalsAdam Graves (17)
AssistsMark Messier (39)
PointsMark Messier (53)
Penalty minutesNick Kypreos (93)
WinsMike Richter (14)
Goals against averageGlenn Healy (2.36)

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

Final standings

Atlantic Division
No. CR GP W L T GF GA Pts
12Philadelphia Flyers482816415013260
25New Jersey Devils482218813612152
36Washington Capitals482218813612052
48New York Rangers482223313913447
59Florida Panthers482022611512746
612Tampa Bay Lightning481728312014437
713New York Islanders481528512615835

[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.

Schedule and results

1994-95 Game Log

Playoffs

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.

Key:   Win   Loss

1995 Stanley Cup Playoffs

Player statistics

Skaters
Goaltenders
Regular Season
Player GP TOI W L T GA GAA SA SV% SO
Mike Richter35199314172972.92884.8902
Glenn Healy17888861352.36377.9071
Playoffs
Player GP TOI W L GA GAA SA SV% SO
Mike Richter738425233.60189.8780
Glenn Healy523021133.3993.8600

Denotes player spent time with another team before joining Rangers. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.
Traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with Rangers only.

[2]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Transactions

  • 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.[3]

Draft picks

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

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 Forward  Slovakia Slovan Bratislava (Slovakia)
11 267 Jamie Butt LW  Canada Tacoma Rockets (WHL)
11 286 Kim Johnsson D  Sweden Malmö IF (SEL)

References

  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. "1994-95 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
  3. NHL.com - 2008 Trade Deadline
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