1995–96 New York Rangers season

The 1995–96 New York Rangers season was the 70th season for the team in the National Hockey League.[1] During the regular season, the Rangers posted a 41–27–14 record, which placed them second in the Atlantic Division and gave them a berth in the 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs.[2] In the first round of the playoffs, New York defeated the Montreal Canadiens in six games to advance to the Eastern Conference Semifinals, where the team lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in five games.[2]

1995–96 New York Rangers
Division	2nd Atlantic
Conference	3rd Eastern
1995–96 record	41–27–14
Goals for	272
Goals against	237
Team information
General Manager	Neil Smith
Coach	Colin Campbell
Captain	Mark Messier
Alternate captains	Adam Graves Brian Leetch
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Team leaders
Goals	Mark Messier (47)
Assists	Brian Leetch (70)
Points	Mark Messier (99)
Penalty minutes	Jeff Beukeboom (220)
Wins	Mike Richter (24)
Goals against average	Jamie Ram (0.00)

Regular season

The Rangers were shorthanded a league-high 495 times during the regular season, and tied the Ottawa Senators and Tampa Bay Lightning for fewest short-handed goals scored (6).[3]

Final standings

Atlantic Division

No.		GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Philadelphia Flyers	82	45	24	13	282	208	103
2	New York Rangers	82	41	27	14	272	237	96
3	Florida Panthers	82	41	31	10	254	234	92
4	Washington Capitals	82	39	32	11	234	204	89
5	Tampa Bay Lightning	82	38	32	12	238	248	88
6	New Jersey Devils	82	37	33	12	215	202	86
7	New York Islanders	82	22	50	10	229	315	54

Eastern Conference[4]

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Philadelphia Flyers	ATL	82	45	24	13	282	208	103
2	Pittsburgh Penguins	NE	82	49	29	4	362	284	102
3	New York Rangers	ATL	82	41	27	14	272	237	96
4	Florida Panthers	ATL	82	41	31	10	254	234	92
5	Boston Bruins	NE	82	40	31	11	282	269	91
6	Montreal Canadiens	NE	82	40	32	10	265	248	90
7	Washington Capitals	ATL	82	39	32	11	234	204	89
8	Tampa Bay Lightning	ATL	82	38	32	12	238	248	88
9	New Jersey Devils	ATL	82	37	33	12	215	202	86
10	Hartford Whalers	NE	82	34	39	9	237	259	77
11	Buffalo Sabres	NE	82	33	42	7	247	262	73
12	New York Islanders	ATL	82	22	50	10	229	315	54
13	Ottawa Senators	NE	82	18	59	5	191	291	41

Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results

1995-96 Game Log
October: 7-3-1 (Home: 3-2-0; Road: 4-1-1) Game October Opponent Score Record 1 7 @ Hartford Whalers 2 - 0 0-1-0 2 11 Winnipeg Jets 6 - 4 1-1-0 3 14 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 2 - 0 2-1-0 4 16 Hartford Whalers 7 - 5 2-2-0 5 17 @ New York Islanders 5 - 1 3-2-0 6 20 @ Buffalo Sabres 3 - 1 4-2-0 7 22 Ottawa Senators 4 - 2 4-3-0 8 24 Vancouver Canucks 5 - 2 5-3-0 9 26 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 4 - 4 OT 5-3-1 10 29 Toronto Maple Leafs 3 - 2 6-3-1 11 31 @ San Jose Sharks 5 - 3 7-3-1
November: 7-5-2 (Home: 5-0-1; Road: 2-5-1) Game November Opponent Score Record 12 2 @ Los Angeles Kings 5 - 3 7-4-1 13 3 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 7 - 4 7-5-1 14 6 Calgary Flames 4 - 2 8-5-1 15 8 Tampa Bay Lightning 5 - 4 9-5-1 16 10 New York Islanders 4 - 1 10-5-1 17 11 @ Hartford Whalers 4 - 1 11-5-1 18 14 @ St. Louis Blues 1 - 1 OT 11-5-2 19 16 @ Chicago Blackhawks 3 - 1 11-6-2 20 17 @ Winnipeg Jets 6 - 3 11-7-2 21 21 Pittsburgh Penguins 9 - 4 12-7-2 22 22 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 4 - 3 13-7-2 23 25 @ Detroit Red Wings 2 - 0 13-8-2 24 27 New Jersey Devils 1 - 1 OT 13-8-3 25 29 Buffalo Sabres 5 - 3 14-8-3
December: 11-3-3 (Home: 7-0-2; Road: 4-3-1) Game December Opponent Score Record 26 1 Colorado Avalanche 5 - 3 15-8-3 27 2 @ Ottawa Senators 4 - 2 16-8-3 28 4 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim 5 - 1 17-8-3 29 6 Chicago Blackhawks 5 - 5 OT 17-8-4 30 8 Detroit Red Wings 2 - 1 OT 18-8-4 31 9 @ Montreal Canadiens 2 - 2 OT 18-8-5 32 11 Dallas Stars 3 - 2 19-8-5 33 13 Boston Bruins 4 - 2 20-8-5 34 15 @ Buffalo Sabres 5 - 4 20-9-5 35 16 @ Washington Capitals 3 - 2 20-10-5 36 18 Washington Capitals 3 - 0 21-10-5 37 21 @ Philadelphia Flyers 2 - 1 22-10-5 38 22 Hartford Whalers 3 - 3 OT 22-10-6 39 26 Ottawa Senators 6 - 4 23-10-6 40 28 @ Vancouver Canucks 3 - 2 24-10-6 41 30 @ Edmonton Oilers 8 - 3 25-10-6 42 31 @ Calgary Flames 3 - 1 25-11-6
January: 5-0-4 (Home: 3-0-2; Road: 2-0-2) Game January Opponent Score Record 43 3 Montreal Canadiens 7 - 4 26-11-6 44 5 @ Washington Capitals 4 - 4 OT 26-11-7 45 10 San Jose Sharks 7 - 4 27-11-7 46 13 @ Philadelphia Flyers 4 - 0 28-11-7 47 14 St. Louis Blues 3 - 3 OT 28-11-8 48 22 Los Angeles Kings 3 - 1 29-11-8 49 24 Philadelphia Flyers 4 - 4 OT 29-11-9 50 27 @ Boston Bruins 5 - 3 30-11-9 51 31 @ Dallas Stars 1 - 1 OT 30-11-10
February: 5-6-1 (Home: 1-3-1; Road: 4-3-0) Game February Opponent Score Record 52 3 @ Colorado Avalanche 7 - 1 30-12-10 53 6 @ New York Islanders 4 - 2 31-12-10 54 8 New York Islanders 6 - 2 32-12-10 55 10 @ New Jersey Devils 3 - 0 32-13-10 56 11 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 6 - 2 33-13-10 57 15 Montreal Canadiens 2 - 2 OT 33-13-11 58 17 @ Ottawa Senators 2 - 1 OT 34-13-11 59 18 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 4 - 3 OT 34-14-11 60 22 New York Islanders 5 - 3 34-15-11 61 24 @ Florida Panthers 4 - 0 35-15-11 62 27 Washington Capitals 5 - 3 35-16-11 63 28 Boston Bruins 3 - 1 35-17-11
March: 4-4-3 (Home: 1-2-3; Road: 3-2-0) Game March Opponent Score Record 64 1 Buffalo Sabres 3 - 3 OT 35-17-12 65 4 New Jersey Devils 2 - 2 OT 35-17-13 66 7 @ Tampa Bay Lightning 5 - 2 35-18-13 67 9 @ Washington Capitals 6 - 1 36-18-13 68 13 Florida Panthers 3 - 3 OT 36-18-14 69 16 @ Montreal Canadiens 4 - 2 36-19-14 70 19 Edmonton Oilers 4 - 1 36-20-14 71 23 @ Boston Bruins 5 - 4 37-20-14 72 24 Pittsburgh Penguins 8 - 2 37-21-14 73 27 Florida Panthers 3 - 0 38-21-14 74 31 @ New York Islanders 4 - 1 39-21-14
April: 2-6-0 (Home: 2-3-0; Road: 0-3-0) Game April Opponent Score Record 75 2 New Jersey Devils 3 - 1 40-21-14 76 4 @ Philadelphia Flyers 4 - 1 40-22-14 77 5 Philadelphia Flyers 3 - 1 41-22-14 78 7 @ New Jersey Devils 4 - 2 41-23-14 79 8 Florida Panthers 5 - 3 41-24-14 80 10 Washington Capitals 4 - 1 41-25-14 81 12 Tampa Bay Lightning 3 - 2 41-26-14 82 14 @ Florida Panthers 5 - 1 41-27-14

Playoffs

Main article: 1996 Stanley Cup playoffs

Key:      Win      Loss

1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Conference Quarter-finals: vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens - New York Rangers win series 4-2 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 April 16 Montreal Canadiens 3 - 2 New York Rangers OT Montreal leads series 1-0 2 April 18 Montreal Canadiens 5 - 3 New York Rangers Montreal leads series 2-0 3 April 21 New York Rangers 2 - 1 Montreal Canadiens Montreal leads series 2-1 4 April 23 New York Rangers 4 - 3 Montreal Canadiens Series tied 2-2 5 April 26 Montreal Canadiens 2 - 3 New York Rangers New York Rangers lead series 3-2 6 April 28 New York Rangers 5 - 3 Montreal Canadiens New York Rangers win series 4-2
Conference Semi-finals: vs. (2) Pittsburgh Penguins - Pittsburgh wins series 4-1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 May 3 New York Rangers 1 - 4 Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh leads series 1-0 2 May 5 New York Rangers 6 - 3 Pittsburgh Penguins Series tied 1-1 3 May 7 Pittsburgh Penguins 3 - 2 New York Rangers Pittsburgh leads series 2-1 4 May 9 Pittsburgh Penguins 4 - 1 New York Rangers Pittsburgh leads series 3-1 5 May 11 New York Rangers 3 - 7 Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh wins series 4-1

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM Mark Messier 74 47 52 99 29 122 Brian Leetch 82 15 70 85 12 30 Pat Verbeek 69 41 41 82 29 129 Luc Robitaille 77 23 46 69 13 80 Alexei Kovalev 81 24 34 58 5 98 Adam Graves 82 22 36 58 18 100 Ray Ferraro^‡ 65 25 29 54 13 82 Bruce Driver 66 3 34 37 2 42 Sergei Nemchinov 78 17 15 32 9 38 Niklas Sundstrom 82 9 12 21 2 14 Ulf Samuelsson 74 1 18 19 9 122 Alexander Karpovtsev 40 2 16 18 12 26 Doug Lidster 59 5 9 14 11 50 Jeff Beukeboom 82 3 11 14 19 220 Darren Langdon 64 7 4 11 2 175 Wayne Presley^‡ 61 4 6 10 7 71 Sergio Momesso^† 19 4 4 8 -2 30 Nick Kypreos^‡ 42 3 4 7 1 77 Stephane Matteau^‡ 32 4 2 6 -4 22 Kevin Lowe 53 1 5 6 20 76 Ken Gernander 10 2 3 5 -3 4 Jari Kurri^† 14 1 4 5 -4 2 Daniel Lacroix 25 2 2 4 -1 30 Bill Berg^† 18 2 1 3 0 8 Mattias Norstrom^‡ 25 2 1 3 5 22 Ian Laperriere^†‡ 28 1 2 3 -5 53 Joe Kocur^‡ 38 1 2 3 -4 49 Marty McSorley^† 9 0 2 2 -6 21 Chris Ferraro 2 1 0 1 -3 0 Barry Richter 4 0 1 1 2 0 Peter Ferraro 5 0 1 1 -5 0 Steve Larouche^‡ 1 0 0 0 0 0 Nathan LaFayette^‡ 5 0 0 0 -1 2 Shane Churla^† 10 0 0 0 -3 26

Playoffs Player GP G A Pts PIM Mark Messier 11 4 7 11 16 Pat Verbeek 11 3 6 9 12 Jari Kurri 11 3 5 8 2 Adam Graves 10 7 1 8 4 Niklas Sundstrom 11 4 3 7 4 Bruce Driver 11 0 7 7 4 Alexei Kovalev 11 3 4 7 14 Brian Leetch 11 1 6 7 4 Ulf Samuelsson 11 1 5 6 16 Luc Robitaille 11 1 5 6 8 Shane Churla 11 2 2 4 14 Kevin Lowe 10 0 4 4 4 Sergio Momesso 11 3 1 4 14 Jeff Beukeboom 11 0 3 3 6 Bill Berg 10 1 0 1 0 Doug Lidster 7 1 0 1 6 Alexander Karpovtsev 6 0 1 1 4 Sergei Nemchinov 6 0 1 1 2 Marty McSorley 4 0 0 0 0 Ken Gernander 6 0 0 0 0 Darren Langdon 2 0 0 0 0

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO
Mike Richter	41	2396	24	13	3	107	2.68	1221	.912	3
Glenn Healy	44	2564	17	14	11	124	2.90	1237	.900	2
Jamie Ram	1	27	0	0	0	0	0.00	9	1.000	0

Playoffs

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO
Mike Richter	11	661	5	6	36	3.27	308	.883	0

^†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.

[5]

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 31, 1995 – Doug Lidster was traded by the St. Louis Blues to the New York Rangers in exchange for Jay Wells.[6]

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft in Edmonton, Alberta, at the Edmonton Coliseum.[7][8]

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
2	39	Christian Dube	RW	Canada	Sherbrooke Faucons (QMJHL)
3	65	Mike Martin	D	Canada	Windsor Spitfires (OHL)
4	91	Marc Savard	C	Canada	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
5	110	Alexei Vasiliev	D	Russia	Yaroslavl Torpedo (Russia)
5	117	Dale Purinton	D	United States	Tacoma Rockets (WHL)
6	143	Peter Slamiar	RW	Slovakia	Zvolen Jrs. (Slovak Extraliga)
7	169	Jeff Heil	G	United States	University of Wisconsin–River Falls (NCAA)
8	195	Ilya Gorokhov	D	Russia	Yaroslavl Torpedo (Russia)
9	221	Bob Maudie	C	Canada	Kamloops Blazers (WHL)

See also

• 1995–96 NHL season

References

1. "New York Rangers". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved January 23, 2019.
2. "1995–96 New York Rangers Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved August 7, 2010.
3. "1995–96 NHL Season Summary". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved January 21, 2011.
4. "1995–1996 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
5. "1995-96 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
6. Yannis, Alex (August 1, 1995). "Hockey; Rangers Regain Lidster by Dealing Wells". The New York Times. Retrieved October 16, 2009.
7. "1995 NHL Entry Draft". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved July 7, 2012.
8. "NHL Draft History". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on January 28, 2001. Retrieved June 16, 2017.