# 1970–71 New York Rangers season

The 1970–71 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 45th season.

## Regular season
### Final standings

East Division vte :
| | | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | DIFF | Pts |
| 1 | Boston Bruins | 78 | 57 | 14 | 7 | 399 | 207 | +192 | 121 |
| 2 | New York Rangers | 78 | 49 | 18 | 11 | 259 | 177 | +82 | 109 |
| 3 | Montreal Canadiens | 78 | 42 | 23 | 13 | 291 | 216 | +75 | 97 |
| 4 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 78 | 37 | 33 | 8 | 248 | 211 | +37 | 82 |
| 5 | Buffalo Sabres | 78 | 24 | 39 | 15 | 217 | 291 | −74 | 63 |
| 6 | Vancouver Canucks | 78 | 24 | 46 | 8 | 229 | 296 | −67 | 56 |
| 7 | Detroit Red Wings | 78 | 22 | 45 | 11 | 209 | 308 | −99 | 55 |

### Record vs. opponents
## Schedule and results

1970–71 Game Log :
October: 6–2–1 (Home: 4–0–1; Road: 2–2–0)
GameOctoberOpponentScoreRecord
110@ St. Louis Blues3–10–1–0
214Buffalo Sabres3–01–1–0
317@ Toronto Maple Leafs6–22–1–0
418Montreal Canadiens1–03–1–0
521Toronto Maple Leafs3–24–1–0
624@ Minnesota North Stars4–15–1–0
725California Golden Seals2–25–1–1
828Detroit Red Wings4–16–1–1
931@ Boston Bruins6–06–2–1 :
November: 7–3–3 (Home: 4–0–2; Road: 3–3–1)
GameNovemberOpponentScoreRecord
101Chicago Black Hawks5–27–2–1
114@ California Golden Seals3–17–3–1
127@ Los Angeles Kings6–28–3–1
1311Pittsburgh Penguins3–38–3–2
1414@ Chicago Black Hawks2–18–4–2
1515Toronto Maple Leafs4–29–4–2
1618@ Los Angeles Kings5–310–4–2
1721@ Montreal Canadiens5–411–4–2
1822Minnesota North Stars2–012–4–2
1925@ Philadelphia Flyers3–112–5–2
2026@ Buffalo Sabres2–212–5–3
2128Boston Bruins3–312–5–4
2229Pittsburgh Penguins6–213–5–4 :
December: 11–2–2 (Home: 7–0–1; Road: 4–2–1)
GameDecemberOpponentScoreRecord
232St. Louis Blues4–214–5–4
245@ Toronto Maple Leafs1–015–5–4
256Vancouver Canucks4–116–5–4
268@ Vancouver Canucks4–116–6–4
279@ Los Angeles Kings2–216–6–5
2811@ California Golden Seals2–117–6–5
2913Los Angeles Kings4–018–6–5
3016Buffalo Sabres4–019–6–5
3119@ Minnesota North Stars5–320–6–5
3220Vancouver Canucks5–121–6–5
3322@ Buffalo Sabres7–222–6–5
3423Pittsburgh Penguins6–123–6–5
3526@ Detroit Red Wings7–423–7–5
3627St. Louis Blues4–423–7–6
3729California Golden Seals3–224–7–6 :
January: 6–3–4 (Home: 2–0–3; Road: 4–3–1)
GameJanuaryOpponentScoreRecord
382@ Pittsburgh Penguins3–125–7–6
393Montreal Canadiens6–526–7–6
409@ Minnesota North Stars1–027–7–6
4110@ St. Louis Blues4–228–7–6
4212@ Vancouver Canucks4–229–7–6
4315@ California Golden Seals3–129–8–6
4417@ Chicago Black Hawks4–329–9–6
4520Philadelphia Flyers3–329–9–7
4621@ Buffalo Sabres5–529–9–8
4724Minnesota North Stars6–230–9–8
4827Boston Bruins2–230–9–9
4930@ Philadelphia Flyers5–230–10–9
5031Los Angeles Kings2–230–10–10 :
February: 9–4–0 (Home: 5–1–0; Road: 4–3–0)
GameFebruaryOpponentScoreRecord
513Chicago Black Hawks4–230–11–10
524@ Detroit Red Wings1–031–11–10
536@ Vancouver Canucks5–432–11–10
549@ Boston Bruins6–332–12–10
5510Minnesota North Stars4–333–12–10
5613@ St. Louis Blues2–133–13–10
5714St. Louis Blues2–134–13–10
5817@ Montreal Canadiens3–034–14–10
5920@ Pittsburgh Penguins2–035–14–10
6021Detroit Red Wings4–136–14–10
6124Philadelphia Flyers4–237–14–10
6227@ Pittsburgh Penguins4–038–14–10
6328Vancouver Canucks4–239–14–10 :
March: 9–3–1 (Home: 7–1–0; Road: 2–2–1)
GameMarchOpponentScoreRecord
643California Golden Seals8–140–14–10
656@ Detroit Red Wings2–240–14–11
667Los Angeles Kings4–241–14–11
6710@ Chicago Black Hawks4–242–14–11
6812Philadelphia Flyers7–243–14–11
6914Toronto Maple Leafs1–044–14–11
7018@ Philadelphia Flyers2–144–15–11
7120@ Toronto Maple Leafs3–144–16–11
7221Montreal Canadiens6–244–17–11
7323Buffalo Sabres7–245–17–11
7427@ Boston Bruins6–346–17–11
7528Boston Bruins2–147–17–11
7631Chicago Black Hawks4–248–17–11 :
April: 1–1–0 (Home: 1–0–0; Road: 0–1–0)
GameAprilOpponentScoreRecord
773@ Montreal Canadiens7–248–18–11
784Detroit Red Wings6–049–18–11 :

## Playoffs

Key: Win Loss
1971 Stanley Cup playoffs :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Walt Tkaczuk | 77 | 26 | 49 | 75 | 48 |
| Jean Ratelle | 78 | 26 | 46 | 72 | 14 |
| Rod Gilbert | 78 | 30 | 31 | 61 | 65 |
| Dave Balon | 78 | 36 | 24 | 60 | 34 |
| Bob Nevin | 78 | 21 | 25 | 46 | 10 |
| Pete Stemkowski$^†$ | 68 | 16 | 29 | 45 | 61 |
| Vic Hadfield | 63 | 22 | 22 | 44 | 38 |
| Brad Park | 68 | 7 | 37 | 44 | 114 |
| Ted Irvine | 76 | 20 | 18 | 38 | 137 |
| Jim Neilson | 77 | 8 | 24 | 32 | 69 |
| Bill Fairbairn | 56 | 7 | 23 | 30 | 32 |
| Rod Seiling | 68 | 5 | 22 | 27 | 34 |
| Bruce MacGregor$^†$ | 27 | 12 | 13 | 25 | 4 |
| Tim Horton | 78 | 2 | 18 | 20 | 57 |
| Jack Egers | 60 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 50 |
| Arnie Brown$^‡$ | 48 | 3 | 12 | 15 | 24 |
| Ron Stewart | 76 | 5 | 6 | 11 | 19 |
| Dale Rolfe$^†$ | 14 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 23 |
| Andre Dupont | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 21 |
| Syl Apps$^‡$ | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| Glen Sather$^†$ | 31 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 52 |
| Mike Robitaille$^‡$ | 11 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 7 |
| Larry Brown$^†$ | 31 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| Jim Krulicki$^‡$ | 27 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Ab DeMarco | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Don Luce$^‡$ | 9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Don Blackburn | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Vic Hadfield | 13 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 46 |
| Jean Ratelle | 13 | 2 | 9 | 11 | 8 |
| Rod Gilbert | 13 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 8 |
| Bob Nevin | 13 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| Walt Tkaczuk | 13 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 14 |
| Tim Horton | 13 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 14 |
| Pete Stemkowski | 13 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| Dave Balon | 13 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
| Bruce MacGregor | 13 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| Brad Park | 13 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 42 |
| Jim Neilson | 13 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 30 |
| Ted Irvine | 12 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 28 |
| Larry Brown | 11 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Glen Sather | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| Dale Rolfe | 13 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Ron Stewart | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Rod Seiling | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 12 |
| Jack Egers | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Bill Fairbairn | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Ed Giacomin | 45 | 2641 | 27 | 10 | 7 | 95 | 2.16 | 8 |
| Gilles Villemure | 34 | 2039 | 22 | 8 | 4 | 78 | 2.30 | 4 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Ed Giacomin | 12 | 759 | 7 | 5 | 28 | 2.21 | 0 |
| Gilles Villemure | 2 | 80 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4.50 | 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.
    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;

## Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1970 NHL Amateur Draft in Montreal, Canada.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 11 | Norm Gratton | RW | Canada | Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA) |
| 2 | 25 | Mike Murphy | RW | Canada | Toronto Marlboros (OHA) |
| 3 | 39 | Wendell Bennett | RW | Canada | Weyburn Red Wings (SJHL) |
| 4 | 53 | Andre St. Pierre | D | Canada | Drummondville Rangers (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 67 | Gary Coalter | RW | Canada | Hamilton Red Wings (OHA) |
| 6 | 81 | Duane Wylie | C | United States | St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA) |
| 7 | 94 | Wayne Bell | G | Canada | Estevan Bruins (WCHL) |
| 8 | 106 | Pierre Brind'Amour | LW | Canada | Montreal Junior Canadiens (OHA) |