# 1939–40 New York Rangers season

The 1939–40 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 14th season. With new coach Frank Boucher the Rangers finish in 2nd place again with an impressive 27–11–10 record. In the semi-finals the Rangers beat the Boston Bruins in 6 games to advance to the 1940 Stanley Cup Finals. In the finals the Rangers won their first 2 games by scores of 2–1 and 6–2 at the Garden, before finishing the series on the road because of the circus. After dropping the first 2 games in Toronto the Rangers won a critical Game five 2–1 in overtime on Muzz Patrick's overtime goal. In Game 6 it would take overtime again as the Rangers won their 3rd Stanley Cup on Bryan Hextall's goal 2:33 into OT. Following the season the Rangers would celebrate buying out their lease at Madison Square Garden by burning the lease in the historic Stanley Cup, a move that would take on greater mystery in coming years.

## Regular season
### Season standings

National Hockey League :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | PIM | Pts |
| Boston Bruins | 48 | 31 | 12 | 5 | 170 | 98 | 330 | 67 |
| New York Rangers | 48 | 27 | 11 | 10 | 136 | 77 | 520 | 64 |
| Toronto Maple Leafs | 48 | 25 | 17 | 6 | 134 | 110 | 485 | 56 |
| Chicago Black Hawks | 48 | 23 | 19 | 6 | 112 | 120 | 351 | 52 |
| Detroit Red Wings | 48 | 16 | 26 | 6 | 91 | 126 | 250 | 38 |
| New York Americans | 48 | 15 | 29 | 4 | 106 | 140 | 236 | 34 |
| Montreal Canadiens | 48 | 10 | 33 | 5 | 90 | 167 | 338 | 25 |
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalty Minutes, Pts = Points Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Record vs. opponents

1939–40 NHL Records :
| Team | BOS | CHI | DET | MTL | NYA | NYR | TOR |
| Boston | — | 6–1–1 | 5–3 | 6–1–1 | 7–1 | 2–4–2 | 5–2–1 |
| Chicago | 1–6–1 | — | 6–0–2 | 5–2–1 | 3–4–1 | 4–4 | 4–3–1 |
| Detroit | 3–5 | 0–6–2 | — | 5–3 | 5–3 | 2–3–2 | 1–6–1 |
| Montreal | 1–6–1 | 2–5–1 | 3–5 | — | 2–4–2 | 1–6–1 | 1–7 |
| N.Y. Americans | 1–7 | 4–3–1 | 3–5 | 4–2–2 | — | 1–6–1 | 2–6 |
| N.Y. Rangers | 4–2–2 | 4–4 | 3–2–2 | 6–1–1 | 6–1–1 | — | 4–1–3 |
| Toronto | 2–5–1 | 3–4–1 | 6–1–1 | 7–1 | 6–2 | 1–4–3 | — |

## Schedule and results

1939–40 Game Log :
November: 3–3–4 (Home: 1–3–0; Road: 2–0–4)
GameNovemberOpponentScoreRecord
15@ Detroit Red Wings1 – 1 OT0–0–1
211@ Toronto Maple Leafs1 – 1 OT0–0–2
312Toronto Maple Leafs1–00–1–2
416Chicago Black Hawks3–20–2–2
518@ New York Americans3–11–2–2
619Montreal Canadiens2 – 1 OT1–3–2
723@ Montreal Canadiens1 – 1 OT1–3–3
826@ Boston Bruins2 – 2 OT1–3–4
928Detroit Red Wings4–12–3–4
1030@ Chicago Black Hawks7–23–3–4 :
December: 7–0–3 (Home: 6–0–2; Road: 1–0–1)
GameDecemberOpponentScoreRecord
112New York Americans1 – 1 OT3–3–5
1210Boston Bruins3–24–3–5
1314Detroit Red Wings2 – 2 OT4–3–6
1416@ Montreal Canadiens4–25–3–6
1517@ Detroit Red Wings0 – 0 OT5–3–7
1619Montreal Canadiens5–26–3–7
1723Chicago Black Hawks7–17–3–7
1825Toronto Maple Leafs4–18–3–7
1929Boston Bruins4–09–3–7
2031New York Americans5–210–3–7 :
January: 10–1–0 (Home: 5–0–0; Road: 5–1–0)
GameJanuaryOpponentScoreRecord
212@ Boston Bruins6–411–3–7
224@ New York Americans6–212–3–7
237Detroit Red Wings3–013–3–7
2411Chicago Black Hawks5–314–3–7
2513@ Toronto Maple Leafs4–115–3–7
2614@ Chicago Black Hawks2–115–4–7
2718@ Montreal Canadiens1–016–4–7
2821Boston Bruins4–217–4–7
2923@ New York Americans5–318–4–7
3025Toronto Maple Leafs3–019–4–7
3128New York Americans4–220–4–7 :
February: 5–5–1 (Home: 4–1–0; Road: 1–4–1)
GameFebruaryOpponentScoreRecord
321@ Detroit Red Wings2–020–5–7
334Montreal Canadiens9–021–5–7
346@ Boston Bruins6–221–6–7
358Toronto Maple Leafs2–122–6–7
3610@ Toronto Maple Leafs4 – 4 OT22–6–8
3711@ Chicago Black Hawks3–022–7–8
3815Detroit Red Wings3–123–7–8
3918@ Detroit Red Wings2–023–8–8
4022@ New York Americans1 – 0 OT23–9–8
4124@ Montreal Canadiens2–024–9–8
4225Montreal Canadiens6–225–9–8
4329Chicago Black Hawks2–125–10–8 :
March: 2–1–2 (Home: 1–0–1; Road: 1–1–1)
GameMarchOpponentScoreRecord
442@ Toronto Maple Leafs1 – 1 OT25–10–9
453@ Chicago Black Hawks2–126–10–9
4610New York Americans4–227–10–9
4712@ Boston Bruins2–127–11–9
4814Boston Bruins0 – 0 OT27–11–10 :

## Playoffs
### Stanley Cup Finals

The final series between the Rangers and the Maple Leafs was an exciting one that went back and forth with three overtime games. The Rangers took the first two at home and the Leafs took the next two in Toronto. The circus forced the Rangers to vacate Madison Square Garden after the first two games. The Rangers would score three game-winning goals in overtime, including the Cup winner. Lynn and Murray Patrick played for the Rangers, and became the third and fourth members of the Patrick family to win the Stanley Cup. Bryan Hextall scored in overtime in the final game to give the Rangers their 3rd Stanley Cup and last until 1994.
Key: Win Loss
1940 Stanley Cup playoffs :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Bryan Hextall | 48 | 24 | 15 | 39 | 52 |
| Neil Colville | 48 | 19 | 19 | 38 | 22 |
| Phil Watson | 48 | 7 | 28 | 35 | 52 |
| Alex Shibicky | 43 | 11 | 21 | 32 | 33 |
| Wilbert Hiller | 48 | 13 | 18 | 31 | 57 |
| James MacDonald | 44 | 15 | 13 | 28 | 19 |
| Lynn Patrick | 48 | 12 | 16 | 28 | 34 |
| Clint Smith | 41 | 8 | 16 | 24 | 2 |
| Mac Colville | 47 | 7 | 14 | 21 | 12 |
| Ehrhardt Heller | 47 | 5 | 14 | 19 | 26 |
| Alf Pike | 47 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 38 |
| Walter Pratt | 48 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 61 |
| Arthur Coulter | 48 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 68 |
| Murray Patrick | 46 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 44 |
| Stanford Smith | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Polich | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Cliff Barton | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Phil Watson | 12 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 16 |
| Neil Colville | 12 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 18 |
| Alex Shibicky | 12 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 4 |
| Bryan Hextall | 12 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 11 |
| Wilbert Hiller | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 2 |
| Mac Colville | 12 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 |
| Walter Pratt | 12 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 18 |
| Alf Pike | 12 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| Clint Smith | 12 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| Lynn Patrick | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
| Murray Patrick | 12 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| Ehrhardt Heller | 12 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 12 |
| James MacDonald | 12 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Arthur Coulter | 12 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 21 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Dave Kerr | 48 | 3000 | 27 | 11 | 10 | 77 | 1.54 | 8 |
Playoffs :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | GA | GAA | SO |
| Dave Kerr | 12 | 770 | 8 | 4 | 20 | 1.56 | 3 |
$^†$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;

## Awards and records

* Calder Memorial Trophy: Kilby MacDonald
* Vezina Trophy: Dave Kerr