# 1997–98 New York Rangers season

The 1997–98 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 72nd season. The Rangers posted a 25–39–18 record in the regular season and finished in fifth place in the Atlantic Division. New York missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 1992–93 season.
The Rangers fired head coach Colin Campbell during the season and replaced him with former Edmonton Oilers Stanley Cup-winning coach John Muckler. This was also the first season since the 1990–91 campaign that the Rangers did not have Mark Messier; after a contentious negotiating period, the Rangers elected not to re-sign Messier and he instead joined the Vancouver Canucks.

## Regular season

The Rangers were the only team in the league not to score a short-handed goal.

### Final standings

Atlantic Division :
| No. | CR | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | 1 | New Jersey Devils | 82 | 48 | 23 | 11 | 225 | 166 | 107 |
| 2 | 3 | Philadelphia Flyers | 82 | 42 | 29 | 11 | 242 | 193 | 95 |
| 3 | 4 | Washington Capitals | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 219 | 202 | 92 |
| 4 | 10 | New York Islanders | 82 | 30 | 41 | 11 | 212 | 225 | 71 |
| 5 | 11 | New York Rangers | 82 | 25 | 39 | 18 | 197 | 231 | 68 |
| 6 | 12 | Florida Panthers | 82 | 24 | 43 | 15 | 203 | 256 | 63 |
| 7 | 13 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 82 | 17 | 55 | 10 | 151 | 269 | 44 |
Eastern Conference :
| R | | Div | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| 1 | New Jersey Devils | ATL | 82 | 48 | 23 | 11 | 225 | 166 | 107 |
| 2 | Pittsburgh Penguins | NE | 82 | 40 | 24 | 18 | 228 | 188 | 98 |
| 3 | Philadelphia Flyers | ATL | 82 | 42 | 29 | 11 | 242 | 193 | 95 |
| 4 | Washington Capitals | ATL | 82 | 40 | 30 | 12 | 219 | 202 | 92 |
| 5 | Boston Bruins | NE | 82 | 39 | 30 | 13 | 221 | 194 | 91 |
| 6 | Buffalo Sabres | NE | 82 | 36 | 29 | 17 | 211 | 187 | 89 |
| 7 | Montreal Canadiens | NE | 82 | 37 | 32 | 13 | 235 | 208 | 87 |
| 8 | Ottawa Senators | NE | 82 | 34 | 33 | 15 | 193 | 200 | 83 |
| 9 | Carolina Hurricanes | NE | 82 | 33 | 41 | 8 | 200 | 219 | 74 |
| 10 | New York Islanders | ATL | 82 | 30 | 41 | 11 | 212 | 225 | 71 |
| 11 | New York Rangers | ATL | 82 | 25 | 39 | 18 | 197 | 231 | 68 |
| 12 | Florida Panthers | ATL | 82 | 24 | 43 | 15 | 203 | 256 | 63 |
| 13 | Tampa Bay Lightning | ATL | 82 | 17 | 55 | 10 | 151 | 269 | 44 |
Divisions: ATL – Atlantic, NE – Northeast
bold – Qualified for playoffs

## Schedule and results

1997–98 regular season :
October: 3–6–5 (home: 2–3–3; road: 1–3–2)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
1October 3, 1997New York Islanders2–2 OT0–0–1Recap
2October 5, 1997Los Angeles Kings2–2 OT0–0–2Recap
3October 8, 1997@ Edmonton Oilers3–3 OT0–0–3Recap
4October 9, 1997@ Calgary Flames1–1 OT0–0–4Recap
5October 11, 1997@ Vancouver Canucks6–31–0–4Recap
6October 14, 1997Pittsburgh Penguins1–01–1–4Recap
7October 15, 1997@ Ottawa Senators5–11–2–4Recap
8October 18, 1997@ St. Louis Blues5–31–3–4Recap
9October 20, 1997Carolina Hurricanes4–22–3–4Recap
10October 22, 1997Chicago Blackhawks1–02–4–4Recap
11October 24, 1997Tampa Bay Lightning4–33–4–4Recap
12October 26, 1997Mighty Ducks of Anaheim3–3 OT3–4–5Recap
13October 28, 1997Dallas Stars3–23–5–5Recap
14October 30, 1997@ New York Islanders5–33–6–5Recap :
November: 5–5–4 (home: 2–2–2; road: 3–3–2)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
15November 3, 1997Edmonton Oilers2–2 OT3–6–6Recap
16November 5, 1997@ Colorado Avalanche4–24–6–6Recap
17November 7, 1997@ Dallas Stars2–2 OT4–6–7Recap
18November 12, 1997New Jersey Devils3–24–7–7Recap
19November 14, 1997Pittsburgh Penguins3–15–7–7Recap
20November 16, 1997Colorado Avalanche4–16–7–7Recap
21November 18, 1997@ Florida Panthers3–17–7–7Recap
22November 19, 1997@ Tampa Bay Lightning6–37–8–7Recap
23November 21, 1997@ Carolina Hurricanes4–38–8–7Recap
24November 22, 1997@ Pittsburgh Penguins4–3 OT8–9–7Recap
25November 25, 1997Vancouver Canucks4–28–10–7Recap
26November 26, 1997@ New York Islanders4–18–11–7Recap
27November 28, 1997@ Buffalo Sabres3–3 OT8–11–8Recap
28November 30, 1997Florida Panthers1–1 OT8–11–9Recap :
December: 4–7–3 (home: 3–4–1; road: 1–3–2)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
29December 2, 1997Washington Capitals3–2 OT8–12–9Recap
30December 5, 1997Philadelphia Flyers4–4 OT8–12–10Recap
31December 6, 1997@ Montreal Canadiens3–3 OT8–12–11Recap
32December 8, 1997Phoenix Coyotes3–19–12–11Recap
33December 10, 1997Calgary Flames4–19–13–11Recap
34December 12, 1997Florida Panthers4–39–14–11Recap
35December 16, 1997@ New Jersey Devils4–39–15–11Recap
36December 17, 1997@ Florida Panthers4–210–15–11Recap
37December 20, 1997@ Tampa Bay Lightning2–2 OT10–15–12Recap
38December 21, 1997Buffalo Sabres2–010–16–12Recap
39December 23, 1997Tampa Bay Lightning4–111–16–12Recap
40December 26, 1997@ Buffalo Sabres3–011–17–12Recap
41December 28, 1997Boston Bruins4–312–17–12Recap
42December 31, 1997@ Tampa Bay Lightning2–012–18–12Recap :
January: 4–4–3 (home: 3–2–2; road: 1–2–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
43January 3, 1998@ Washington Capitals3–213–18–12Recap
44January 6, 1998Carolina Hurricanes4–214–18–12Recap
45January 8, 1998Washington Capitals5–314–19–12Recap
46January 12, 1998Toronto Maple Leafs3–215–19–12Recap
47January 14, 1998@ New Jersey Devils4–115–20–12Recap
48January 20, 1998St. Louis Blues3–116–20–12Recap
49January 22, 1998Philadelphia Flyers4–316–21–12Recap
50January 24, 1998New Jersey Devils3–3 OT16–21–13Recap
51January 26, 1998Washington Capitals2–2 OT16–21–14Recap
52January 29, 1998@ Ottawa Senators2–2 OT16–21–15Recap
53January 31, 1998@ Boston Bruins4–216–22–15Recap :
February: 2–3–1 (home: 0–1–0; road: 2–2–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
54February 2, 1998@ San Jose Sharks3–217–22–15Recap
55February 4, 1998@ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim3–217–23–15Recap
56February 5, 1998@ Los Angeles Kings3–117–24–15Recap
57February 7, 1998@ Phoenix Coyotes1–1 OT17–24–16Recap
58February 26, 1998@ Toronto Maple Leafs5–218–24–16Recap
59February 28, 1998Philadelphia Flyers3–118–25–16Recap :
March: 4–9–2 (home: 3–4–1; road: 1–5–1)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
60March 2, 1998Buffalo Sabres1–018–26–16Recap
61March 4, 1998@ Florida Panthers4–319–26–16Recap
62March 7, 1998@ New Jersey Devils6–319–27–16Recap
63March 9, 1998New Jersey Devils2–2 OT19–27–17Recap
64March 11, 1998San Jose Sharks5–320–27–17Recap
65March 12, 1998@ Montreal Canadiens4–120–28–17Recap
66March 14, 1998@ Boston Bruins5–120–29–17Recap
67March 16, 1998Ottawa Senators5–421–29–17Recap
68March 18, 1998Montreal Canadiens2–1 OT22–29–17Recap
69March 21, 1998Detroit Red Wings4–322–30–17Recap
70March 22, 1998@ Philadelphia Flyers5–4 OT22–31–17Recap
71March 25, 1998Ottawa Senators3–2 OT22–32–17Recap
72March 26, 1998@ Carolina Hurricanes4–122–33–17Recap
73March 28, 1998@ Pittsburgh Penguins2–2 OT22–33–18Recap
74March 30, 1998Tampa Bay Lightning3–122–34–18Recap :
April: 3–5–0 (home: 1–2–0; road: 2–3–0)
GameDateOpponentScoreRecordRecap
75April 1, 1998Boston Bruins4–222–35–18Recap
76April 4, 1998@ New York Islanders3–022–36–18Recap
77April 5, 1998@ Chicago Blackhawks2–1 OT23–36–18Recap
78April 7, 1998Montreal Canadiens3–223–37–18Recap
79April 11, 1998@ Detroit Red Wings5–223–38–18Recap
80April 14, 1998@ Washington Capitals3–123–39–18Recap
81April 15, 1998New York Islanders4–224–39–18Recap
82April 18, 1998@ Philadelphia Flyers2–125–39–18Recap :
Legend:
  Win (2 points)
  Loss (0 points)
  Tie (1 point) :

## 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 |
| No. | Player | Pos | GP | G | A | Pts | +/- | PIM |
| 99 | Wayne Gretzky | C | 82 | 23 | 67 | 90 | −11 | 28 |
| 16 | Pat LaFontaine | C | 67 | 23 | 39 | 62 | −16 | 36 |
| 27 | Alexei Kovalev | LW | 73 | 23 | 30 | 53 | −22 | 44 |
| 2 | Brian Leetch | D | 76 | 17 | 33 | 50 | −36 | 32 |
| 24 | Niklas Sundstrom | RW | 70 | 19 | 28 | 47 | 0 | 24 |
| 17 | Kevin Stevens | LW | 80 | 14 | 27 | 41 | −7 | 130 |
| 9 | Adam Graves | LW | 72 | 23 | 12 | 35 | −30 | 41 |
| 37 | Tim Sweeney | RW | 56 | 11 | 18 | 29 | 7 | 26 |
| 33 | Bruce Driver | D | 75 | 5 | 15 | 20 | −3 | 46 |
| 12 | Mike Keane‡ | RW | 70 | 8 | 10 | 18 | −12 | 47 |
| 5 | Ulf Samuelsson | D | 73 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 122 |
| 20 | Brian Skrudland‡ | C | 59 | 5 | 6 | 11 | −4 | 39 |
| 32 | Mike Eastwood‡ | C | 48 | 5 | 5 | 10 | −2 | 16 |
| 25 | Alexander Karpovtsev | D | 47 | 3 | 7 | 10 | −1 | 38 |
| 18 | Bill Berg | C | 67 | 1 | 9 | 10 | −15 | 55 |
| 26 | Jeff Finley | D | 63 | 1 | 6 | 7 | −3 | 55 |
| 15 | Darren Langdon | LW | 70 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 197 |
| 10 | Marc Savard | C | 28 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −4 | 4 |
| 28 | P. J. Stock† | C | 38 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 114 |
| 23 | Jeff Beukeboom | D | 63 | 0 | 5 | 5 | −25 | 195 |
| 39 | Vladimir Vorobiev | RW | 15 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −10 | 6 |
| 21 | Johan Lindbom | LW | 38 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 28 |
| 6 | Doug Lidster | D | 36 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 24 |
| 29 | Eric Cairns | D | 39 | 0 | 3 | 3 | −3 | 92 |
| 36 | Daniel Goneau | LW | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | −4 | 4 |
| 14 | Geoff Smith | D | 15 | 1 | 1 | 2 | −4 | 6 |
| 8 | Ryan VandenBussche‡ | RW | 16 | 1 | 0 | 1 | −2 | 38 |
| 4 | Maxim Galanov | D | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 35 | Mike Richter | G | 72 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | 2 |
| 30 | Sylvain Blouin | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 34 | Dan Cloutier | G | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 19 |
| 12 | Bob Errey† | RW | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −5 | 7 |
| 14 | Peter Ferraro† | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −2 | 2 |
| 31 | Jason Muzzatti‡ | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | 10 |
| 36 | Pierre Sevigny | LW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | Brad Smyth† | RW | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 38 | Ronnie Sundin | D | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 32 | Harry York† | C | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | −1 | 0 |

### Goaltending

* ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Rangers only.
| No. | Player | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season | Regular season |
| No. | Player | GP | W | L | T | SA | GA | GAA | SV% | SO | TOI |
| 35 | Mike Richter | 72 | 21 | 31 | 15 | 1888 | 184 | 2.66 | .903 | 0 | 4143 |
| 34 | Dan Cloutier | 12 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 248 | 23 | 2.50 | .907 | 0 | 551 |
| 31 | Jason Muzzatti‡ | 6 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 156 | 17 | 3.26 | .891 | 0 | 313 |
Sources:

## Awards and records
### Awards

| Type | Award/honor | Recipient |
| League (annual) | NHL Second All-Star Team | Wayne Gretzky (Center) |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Wayne Gretzky |
| League (in-season) | NHL All-Star Game selection | Brian Leetch |
| Team | Ceil Saidel Memorial Award | Adam Graves |
| Team | Frank Boucher Trophy | Wayne Gretzky |
| Team | Good Guy Award | Alexei Kovalev |
| Team | Lars-Erik Sjoberg Award | Marc Savard |
| Team | Players' Player Award | Darren Langdon |
| Team | Rangers MVP | Wayne Gretzky |
| Team | Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award | Wayne Gretzky |

### Milestones

| Milestone | Player | Date |
| First game | Marc Savard | October 3, 1997 |
| First game | Johan Lindbom | November 12, 1997 |
| First game | P. J. Stock | November 21, 1997 |
| First game | Dan Cloutier | January 3, 1998 |
| First game | Ronnie Sundin | January 14, 1998 |
| First game | Maxim Galanov | April 4, 1998 |
| 1,000th point | Pat LaFontaine | January 22, 1998 |

## Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1997 NHL entry draft in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the Civic Arena.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 19 | Stefan Cherneski | RW | Canada | Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) |
| 2 | 46 | Wes Jarvis | D | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHL) |
| 3 | 73 | Burke Henry | D | Canada | Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) |
| 4 | 93 | Tomi Kallarsson | D | Finland | HPK Junior (Finland) |
| 5 | 126 | Jason McLean | G | Canada | Moose Jaw Warriors (WHL) |
| 5 | 134 | Johan Lindbom | RW | Sweden | HV71 (SEL) |
| 6 | 136 | Mike York | C | United States | Michigan State University (NCAA) |
| 6 | 154 | Shawn Degagne | G | Canada | Kitchener Rangers (OHL) |
| 7 | 175 | Johan Holmqvist | G | Sweden | Brynäs IF (SEL) |
| 7 | 182 | Mike Mottau | D | United States | Boston College (NCAA) |
| 8 | 210 | Andrew Proskurnicki | LW | Canada | Sarnia Sting (OHL) |
| 9 | 236 | Richard Miller | D | United States | Providence College (NCAA) |