# 1976–77 New York Rangers season

The 1976–77 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 51st season. The Rangers placed fourth in the Patrick Division and did not qualify for the playoffs. The Rangers had a better regular season record than two playoff teams and the league would change the rules in the following season to place the top twelve teams in the playoffs, regardless of division.

## Regular season
### Season standings

Patrick Division :
| | GP | W | L | T | GF | GA | Pts |
| Philadelphia Flyers | 80 | 48 | 16 | 16 | 323 | 213 | 112 |
| New York Islanders | 80 | 47 | 21 | 12 | 288 | 193 | 106 |
| Atlanta Flames | 80 | 34 | 34 | 12 | 264 | 265 | 80 |
| New York Rangers | 80 | 29 | 37 | 14 | 272 | 310 | 72 |
Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, Pts = Points, GF = Goals for, GA = Goals against Note: Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

### Record vs. opponents

Patrick Division record vs. opponents :
Vs. Campbell Conference
Vs. Wales Conference
Vs. Patrick Division
1976–77 NHL records
Team
ATL
NYI
NYR
PHI
Total
Atlanta
—0–64–1–12–2–26–9–3
N.Y. Islanders
6–0—4–1–13–2–113–3–2
N.Y. Rangers
1–4–11–4–1—0–2–42–10–6
Philadelphia
2–2–22–3–12–0–4—6–5–7
Vs. Smythe Division
1976–77 NHL records
Team
CHI
COL
MIN
STL
VAN
Total
Atlanta
3–23–1–12–1–24–11–3–113–8–4
N.Y. Islanders
3–1–15–03–1–13–1–14–118–4–3
N.Y. Rangers
2–2–13–1–15–02–2–13–215–7–3
Philadelphia
3–0–25–03–0–25–04–0–120–0–5
Vs. Adams Division
1976–77 NHL records
Team
BOS
BUF
CLE
TOR
Total
Atlanta
2–21–2–11–2–11–45–10–2
N.Y. Islanders
2–1–13–1–13–0–11–2–19–4–4
N.Y. Rangers
0–4–10–43–0–12–1–15–9–3
Philadelphia
3–12–23–1–12–1–110–5–2
Vs. Norris Division
1976–77 NHL records
Team
DET
LAK
MTL
PIT
WSH
Total
Atlanta
2–1–12–20–3–13–0–13–110–7–3
N.Y. Islanders
2–22–20–42–21–0–37–10–3
N.Y. Rangers
3–10–3–11–31–2–12–27–11–2
Philadelphia
3–14–00–43–12–0–212–6–2 :

## Schedule and results

1976–77 Game Log :
October: 5–7–1 (Home: 2–5–0; Road: 3–2–1)
GameOctoberOpponentScoreRecord
16Minnesota North Stars6–51–0–0
28@ Colorado Rockies5–32–0–0
39@ St. Louis Blues2–12–1–0
412@ Minnesota North Stars10–43–1–0
513Boston Bruins5–13–2–0
616@ Montreal Canadiens7–43–3–0
717Colorado Rockies4–34–3–0
820Los Angeles Kings4–24–4–0
924Vancouver Canucks5–44–5–0
1026@ Cleveland Barons5–25–5–0
1127Boston Bruins4–35–6–0
1230@ Pittsburgh Penguins2–25–6–1
1331Detroit Red Wings6–55–7–1 :
November: 5–4–3 (Home: 2–3–0; Road: 3–1–3)
GameNovemberOpponentScoreRecord
143@ Vancouver Canucks6–16–7–1
156@ Los Angeles Kings3–36–7–2
1610Washington Capitals7–56–8–2
1713Buffalo Sabres6–26–9–2
1814Pittsburgh Penguins5–16–10–2
1917Chicago Black Hawks3–27–10–2
2020@ St. Louis Blues3–17–11–2
2122@ Vancouver Canucks3–28–11–2
2224@ Philadelphia Flyers2–28–11–3
2327@ Detroit Red Wings5–09–11–3
2428Minnesota North Stars4–110–11–3
2530@ Atlanta Flames2–210–11–4 :
December: 5–4–6 (Home: 3–2–3; Road: 2–2–3)
GameDecemberOpponentScoreRecord
261Washington Capitals4–111–11–4
274@ Minnesota North Stars11–412–11–4
285Toronto Maple Leafs5–512–11–5
298St. Louis Blues4–412–11–6
3011@ Toronto Maple Leafs4–112–12–6
3112Montreal Canadiens5–213–12–6
3214@ New York Islanders4–413–12–7
3316@ Buffalo Sabres7–213–13–7
3418@ Chicago Black Hawks3–313–13–8
3519Cleveland Barons3–214–13–8
3622Philadelphia Flyers3–314–13–9
3723@ Boston Bruins3–314–13–10
3826New York Islanders2–114–14–10
3928@ Washington Capitals5–215–14–10
4031Atlanta Flames4–215–15–10 :
January: 3–6–3 (Home: 2–2–1; Road: 1–4–2)
GameJanuaryOpponentScoreRecord
412Vancouver Canucks5–316–15–10
425Philadelphia Flyers4–416–15–11
437@ Colorado Rockies4–416–15–12
449Los Angeles Kings5–416–16–12
4512@ Atlanta Flames6–116–17–12
4613@ Buffalo Sabres7–516–18–12
4716@ Chicago Black Hawks5–217–18–12
4819@ Cleveland Barons3–317–18–13
4922@ Los Angeles Kings6–017–19–13
5023@ Vancouver Canucks6–217–20–13
5127Pittsburgh Penguins3–017–21–13
5230St. Louis Blues5–218–21–13 :
February: 5–7–0 (Home: 3–2–0; Road: 2–5–0)
GameFebruaryOpponentScoreRecord
531@ Colorado Rockies5–218–22–13
543@ New York Islanders6–318–23–13
556New York Islanders4–019–23–13
569Buffalo Sabres2–119–24–13
5710@ Detroit Red Wings5–420–24–13
5813Toronto Maple Leafs8–321–24–13
5917@ Philadelphia Flyers7–121–25–13
6019@ New York Islanders5–221–26–13
6120Detroit Red Wings3–222–26–13
6223@ Toronto Maple Leafs5–423–26–13
6326@ Chicago Black Hawks2–123–27–13
6427Montreal Canadiens8–123–28–13 :
March: 6–7–1 (Home: 5–3–1; Road: 1–4–0)
GameMarchOpponentScoreRecord
653Boston Bruins4–123–29–13
665@ Montreal Canadiens7–223–30–13
676Cleveland Barons4–324–30–13
689Minnesota North Stars6–425–30–13
6910@ Boston Bruins10–325–31–13
7012@ Atlanta Flames6–325–32–13
7113Atlanta Flames5–325–33–13
7216Philadelphia Flyers4–425–33–14
7319@ Pittsburgh Penguins5–226–33–14
7420St. Louis Blues5–327–33–14
7523Colorado Rockies5–328–33–14
7625@ Washington Capitals7–228–34–14
7727Chicago Black Hawks5–328–35–14
7830Atlanta Flames4–329–35–14 :
April: 0–2–0 (Home: 0–1–0; Road: 0–1–0)
GameAprilOpponentScoreRecord
792@ Philadelphia Flyers4–129–36–14
803New York Islanders5–229–37–14 :

## Player statistics
### Skaters

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM |
| Phil Esposito | 80 | 34 | 46 | 80 | 52 |
| Rod Gilbert | 77 | 27 | 48 | 75 | 50 |
| Ken Hodge | 78 | 21 | 41 | 62 | 43 |
| Don Murdoch | 59 | 32 | 24 | 56 | 47 |
| Steve Vickers | 75 | 22 | 31 | 53 | 26 |
| Walt Tkaczuk | 80 | 12 | 38 | 50 | 38 |
| Carol Vadnais | 74 | 11 | 37 | 48 | 131 |
| Ron Greschner | 80 | 11 | 36 | 47 | 89 |
| Wayne Dillon | 78 | 17 | 29 | 46 | 33 |
| Mike McEwen | 80 | 14 | 29 | 43 | 38 |
| Pat Hickey | 80 | 23 | 17 | 40 | 35 |
| Greg Polis | 77 | 16 | 23 | 39 | 44 |
| Bill Goldsworthy$^†$ | 61 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 43 |
| Dave Maloney | 66 | 3 | 18 | 21 | 100 |
| Dave Farrish | 80 | 2 | 17 | 19 | 102 |
| Dan Newman | 41 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 37 |
| Pete Stemkowski | 61 | 2 | 13 | 15 | 8 |
| Nick Fotiu | 70 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 174 |
| Bill Fairbairn$^‡$ | 9 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Mark Heaslip | 19 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 31 |
| Larry Huras | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Larry Sacharuk | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Bednarski | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Holst | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Beverley$^‡$ | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Doug Jarrett | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |

### Goaltenders

Regular Season :
| Player | GP | TOI | W | L | T | GA | GAA | SO |
| Gilles Gratton | 41 | 2034 | 11 | 18 | 7 | 143 | 4.22 | 0 |
| John Davidson | 39 | 2116 | 14 | 14 | 6 | 125 | 3.54 | 1 |
| Doug Soetaert | 12 | 570 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 28 | 2.95 | 1 |
| Dave Tataryn | 2 | 80 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 7.50 | 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 1976 NHL Amateur Draft in Montreal, Canada.
| Round | # | Player | Position | Nationality | College/Junior/Club team (League) |
| 1 | 6 | Don Murdoch | RW | Canada | Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL) |
| 2 | 24 | Dave Farrish | D | Canada | Sudbury Wolves (OHA) |
| 3 | 42 | Mike McEwen | D | Canada | Toronto Marlboros (OHA) |
| 4 | 60 | Claude Periard | LW | Canada | Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL) |
| 5 | 78 | Doug Caines | C | Canada | St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA) |
| 6 | 96 | Barry Scully | RW | Canada | Kingston Canadians (OHA) |
| 7 | 112 | Remi Levesque | C | Canada | Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) |