# 1995–96 New York Rangers season

The 1995–96 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 70th season. 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. 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.

## 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).

### 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 :
| 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
### Regular season

1995–96 regular season :
October: 7–3–1 (home: 3–2–0; road: 4–1–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
1October 7, 1995@ Hartford Whalers2–00–1–0Recap
2October 11, 1995Winnipeg Jets6–41–1–0Recap
3October 14, 1995@ Toronto Maple Leafs2–02–1–0Recap
4October 16, 1995Hartford Whalers7–52–2–0Recap
5October 17, 1995@ New York Islanders5–13–2–0Recap
6October 20, 1995@ Buffalo Sabres3–14–2–0Recap
7October 22, 1995Ottawa Senators4–24–3–0Recap
8October 24, 1995Vancouver Canucks5–25–3–0Recap
9October 26, 1995@ Tampa Bay Lightning4–4 OT5–3–1Recap
10October 29, 1995Toronto Maple Leafs3–26–3–1Recap
11October 31, 1995@ San Jose Sharks5–37–3–1Recap :
November: 7–5–2 (home: 5–0–1; road: 2–5–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
12November 2, 1995@ Los Angeles Kings5–37–4–1Recap
13November 3, 1995@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim7–47–5–1Recap
14November 6, 1995Calgary Flames4–28–5–1Recap
15November 8, 1995Tampa Bay Lightning5–49–5–1Recap
16November 10, 1995New York Islanders4–110–5–1Recap
17November 11, 1995@ Hartford Whalers4–111–5–1Recap
18November 14, 1995@ St. Louis Blues1–1 OT11–5–2Recap
19November 16, 1995@ Chicago Blackhawks3–111–6–2Recap
20November 17, 1995@ Winnipeg Jets6–311–7–2Recap
21November 21, 1995Pittsburgh Penguins9–412–7–2Recap
22November 22, 1995@ Pittsburgh Penguins4–313–7–2Recap
23November 25, 1995@ Detroit Red Wings2–013–8–2Recap
24November 27, 1995New Jersey Devils1–1 OT13–8–3Recap
25November 29, 1995Buffalo Sabres5–314–8–3Recap :
December: 11–3–3 (home: 7–0–2; road: 4–3–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
26December 1, 1995Colorado Avalanche5–315–8–3Recap
27December 2, 1995@ Ottawa Senators4–216–8–3Recap
28December 4, 1995Mighty Ducks of Anaheim5–117–8–3Recap
29December 6, 1995Chicago Blackhawks5–5 OT17–8–4Recap
30December 8, 1995Detroit Red Wings2–1 OT18–8–4Recap
31December 9, 1995@ Montreal Canadiens2–2 OT18–8–5Recap
32December 11, 1995Dallas Stars3–219–8–5Recap
33December 13, 1995Boston Bruins4–220–8–5Recap
34December 15, 1995@ Buffalo Sabres5–420–9–5Recap
35December 16, 1995@ Washington Capitals3–220–10–5Recap
36December 18, 1995Washington Capitals3–021–10–5Recap
37December 21, 1995@ Philadelphia Flyers2–122–10–5Recap
38December 22, 1995Hartford Whalers3–3 OT22–10–6Recap
39December 26, 1995Ottawa Senators6–423–10–6Recap
40December 28, 1995@ Vancouver Canucks3–224–10–6Recap
41December 30, 1995@ Edmonton Oilers8–325–10–6Recap
42December 31, 1995@ Calgary Flames3–125–11–6Recap :
January: 5–0–4 (home: 3–0–2; road: 2–0–2)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
43January 3, 1996Montreal Canadiens7–426–11–6Recap
44January 5, 1996@ Washington Capitals4–4 OT26–11–7Recap
45January 10, 1996San Jose Sharks7–427–11–7Recap
46January 13, 1996@ Philadelphia Flyers4–028–11–7Recap
47January 14, 1996St. Louis Blues3–3 OT28–11–8Recap
48January 22, 1996Los Angeles Kings3–129–11–8Recap
49January 24, 1996Philadelphia Flyers4–4 OT29–11–9Recap
50January 27, 1996@ Boston Bruins5–330–11–9Recap
51January 31, 1996@ Dallas Stars1–1 OT30–11–10Recap :
February: 5–6–1 (home: 1–3–1; road: 4–3–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
52February 3, 1996@ Colorado Avalanche7–130–12–10Recap
53February 6, 1996@ New York Islanders4–231–12–10Recap
54February 8, 1996New York Islanders6–232–12–10Recap
55February 10, 1996@ New Jersey Devils3–032–13–10Recap
56February 11, 1996@ Tampa Bay Lightning6–233–13–10Recap
57February 15, 1996Montreal Canadiens2–2 OT33–13–11Recap
58February 17, 1996@ Ottawa Senators2–1 OT34–13–11Recap
59February 18, 1996@ Pittsburgh Penguins4–3 OT34–14–11Recap
60February 22, 1996New York Islanders5–334–15–11Recap
61February 24, 1996@ Florida Panthers4–035–15–11Recap
62February 27, 1996Washington Capitals5–335–16–11Recap
63February 28, 1996Boston Bruins3–135–17–11Recap :
March: 4–4–3 (home: 1–2–3; road: 3–2–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
64March 1, 1996Buffalo Sabres3–3 OT35–17–12Recap
65March 4, 1996New Jersey Devils2–2 OT35–17–13Recap
66March 7, 1996@ Tampa Bay Lightning5–235–18–13Recap
67March 9, 1996@ Washington Capitals6–136–18–13Recap
68March 13, 1996Florida Panthers3–3 OT36–18–14Recap
69March 16, 1996@ Montreal Canadiens4–236–19–14Recap
70March 19, 1996Edmonton Oilers4–136–20–14Recap
71March 23, 1996@ Boston Bruins5–437–20–14Recap
72March 24, 1996Pittsburgh Penguins8–237–21–14Recap
73March 27, 1996Florida Panthers3–038–21–14Recap
74March 31, 1996@ New York Islanders4–139–21–14Recap :
April: 2–6–0 (home: 2–3–0; road: 0–3–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
75April 2, 1996New Jersey Devils3–140–21–14Recap
76April 4, 1996@ Philadelphia Flyers4–140–22–14Recap
77April 5, 1996Philadelphia Flyers3–141–22–14Recap
78April 7, 1996@ New Jersey Devils4–241–23–14Recap
79April 8, 1996Florida Panthers5–341–24–14Recap
80April 10, 1996Washington Capitals4–141–25–14Recap
81April 12, 1996Tampa Bay Lightning3–241–26–14Recap
82April 14, 1996@ Florida Panthers5–141–27–14Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

### Playoffs

1996 Stanley Cup playoffs :
Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. (6) Montreal Canadiens – Rangers win 4–2
GameDateOpponentScoreSeriesRecap
1April 16, 1996Montreal Canadiens3–2 OTCanadiens lead 1–0Recap
2April 18, 1996Montreal Canadiens5–3Canadiens lead 2–0Recap
3April 21, 1996@ Montreal Canadiens2–1Canadiens lead 2–1Recap
4April 23, 1996@ Montreal Canadiens4–3Series tied 2–2Recap
5April 26, 1996Montreal Canadiens3–2Rangers lead 3–2Recap
6April 28, 1996@ Montreal Canadiens5–3Rangers win 4–2Recap :
Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. (2) Pittsburgh Penguins – Penguins win 4–1
GameDateOpponentScoreSeriesRecap
1May 3, 1996@ Pittsburgh Penguins4–1Penguins lead 1–0Recap
2May 5, 1996@ Pittsburgh Penguins6–3Series tied 1–1Recap
3May 7, 1996Pittsburgh Penguins3–2Penguins lead 2–1Recap
4May 9, 1996Pittsburgh Penguins4–1Penguins lead 3–1Recap
5May 11, 1996@ Pittsburgh Penguins7–3Penguins win 4–1Recap :
Legend:
  Win
  Loss :

## Player statistics
### Scoring

* 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 | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 11 | Mark Messier | C | 74 | 47 | 52 | 99 | 29 | 122 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 11 | −10 | 16 |
| 2 | Brian Leetch | D | 82 | 15 | 70 | 85 | 12 | 30 | 11 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −11 | 4 |
| 16 | Pat Verbeek | RW | 69 | 41 | 41 | 82 | 29 | 129 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 9 | −8 | 12 |
| 20 | Luc Robitaille | LW | 77 | 23 | 46 | 69 | 13 | 80 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 8 |
| 27 | Alexei Kovalev | RW | 81 | 24 | 34 | 58 | 5 | 98 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
| 9 | Adam Graves | LW | 82 | 22 | 36 | 58 | 18 | 100 | 10 | 7 | 1 | 8 | −9 | 4 |
| 21 | Ray Ferraro‡ | C | 65 | 25 | 29 | 54 | 13 | 82 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 33 | Bruce Driver | D | 66 | 3 | 34 | 37 | 2 | 42 | 11 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 1 | 4 |
| 13 | Sergei Nemchinov | C | 78 | 17 | 15 | 32 | 9 | 38 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 24 | Niklas Sundstrom | C | 82 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 2 | 14 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Ulf Samuelsson | D | 74 | 1 | 18 | 19 | 9 | 122 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 16 |
| 25 | Alexander Karpovtsev | D | 40 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 12 | 26 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −2 | 4 |
| 6 | Doug Lidster | D | 59 | 5 | 9 | 14 | 11 | 50 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −4 | 6 |
| 23 | Jeff Beukeboom | D | 82 | 3 | 11 | 14 | 19 | 220 | 11 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −1 | 6 |
| 15 | Darren Langdon | LW | 64 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 2 | 175 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | Wayne Presley‡ | RW | 61 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 7 | 71 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 32 | Sergio Momesso† | LW | 19 | 4 | 4 | 8 | −2 | 30 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 14 |
| 19 | Nick Kypreos‡ | LW | 42 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 77 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 32 | Stephane Matteau‡ | LW | 32 | 4 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 4 | Kevin Lowe | D | 53 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 20 | 76 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 4 |
| 12 | Ken Gernander | RW | 10 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −3 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Jari Kurri† | RW | 14 | 1 | 4 | 5 | −4 | 2 | 11 | 3 | 5 | 8 | −2 | 2 |
| 37 | Daniel Lacroix | LW | 25 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −1 | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 18 | Bill Berg† | LW | 18 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −1 | 0 |
| 14 | Mattias Norstrom‡ | D | 25 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 5 | 22 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 26 | Joe Kocur‡ | RW | 38 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −4 | 49 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 22 | Ian Laperriere†‡ | C | 28 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −5 | 53 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 55 | Marty McSorley† | D | 9 | 0 | 2 | 2 | −6 | 21 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |
| 14 | Chris Ferraro | RW | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 21 | Peter Ferraro | C | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | −5 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 30 | Glenn Healy | G | 44 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 8 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 29 | Barry Richter | D | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 35 | Mike Richter | G | 41 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 4 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 |
| 22 | Shane Churla† | RW | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −3 | 26 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 14 |
| 22 | Nathan LaFayette‡ | C | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 39 | Steve Larouche‡ | C | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 34 | Jamie Ram | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — |

### Goaltending

| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs | Playoffs |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI | GP | W | L | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 35 | Mike Richter | 41 | 24 | 13 | 3 | 1221 | 107 | 2.68 | .912 | 3 | 2396 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 308 | 36 | 3.27 | .883 | 0 | 661 |
| 30 | Glenn Healy | 44 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 1237 | 124 | 2.90 | .900 | 2 | 2564 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| 34 | Jamie Ram | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0.00 | 1.000 | 0 | 27 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Sources:

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (annual) | NHL Second All-Star team | Brian Leetch (Defense) |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Brian Leetch |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Mark Messier |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Pat Verbeek |
| Team | Ceil Saidel Memorial Award | Adam Graves |
| Team | Ceil Saidel Memorial Award | Glenn Healy |
| Team | "Crumb Bum" Award | Jeff Beukeboom |
| Team | Frank Boucher Trophy | Mark Messier |
| Team | Good Guy Award | Glenn Healy |
| Team | Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award | Niklas Sundstrom |
| Team | Players' Player Award | Mark Messier |
| Team | Rangers MVP | Mark Messier |
| Team | Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award | Mark Messier |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Niklas Sundstrom | October 7, 1995 |
| First game | Peter Ferraro | October 16, 1995 |
| First game | Jamie Ram | February 3, 1996 |
| First game | Ken Gernander | March 9, 1996 |
| First game | Barry Richter | April 5, 1996 |
| First game | Chris Ferraro | April 8, 1996 |
| 400th goal | Pat Verbeek | January 10, 1996 |

## Transactions

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

## Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1995 NHL entry draft in Edmonton, Alberta, at the Edmonton Coliseum.
| 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) |