1986–87 New York Rangers season

NHL hockey team season

1986–87 New York Rangers
Division4th Patrick
Conference7th Wales
1986–87 record34–38–8
Goals for307
Goals against323
Team information
General managerPhil Esposito
CoachTed Sator
Tom Webster
Phil Esposito
CaptainRon Greschner
ArenaMadison Square Garden
Team leaders
GoalsWalt Poddubny/Tomas Sandstrom (40)
AssistsWalt Poddubny (47)
PointsWalt Poddubny (87)
Penalty minutesLarry Melnyk (182)
WinsJohn Vanbiesbrouck (18)
Goals against averageJohn Vanbiesbrouck (3.64)

The 1986–87 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 61st season.[1] During the regular season, the Rangers finished in fourth place in the Patrick Division with 76 points, and qualified for the NHL playoffs. New York was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers.[2]

Regular season

Final standings

Patrick Division[3]
GP W L T GF GA Pts
Philadelphia Flyers 80 46 26 8 310 245 100
Washington Capitals 80 38 32 10 285 278 86
New York Islanders 80 35 33 12 279 281 82
New York Rangers 80 34 38 8 307 323 76
Pittsburgh Penguins 80 30 38 12 297 290 72
New Jersey Devils 80 29 45 6 293 368 64

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. Wales Conference

Vs. Patrick Division

1986–87 NHL records[4]
Team NJD NYI NYR PHI PIT WSH Total
New Jersey — 2–5 4–3 2–4–1 4–3 1–6 13–21–1
N.Y. Islanders 5–2 — 3–3–1 3–4 5–0–2 2–3–2 18–12–2
N.Y. Rangers 3–4 3–3–1 — 4–3 3–2–2 4–3 17–15–3
Philadelphia 4–2–1 4–3 3–4 — 4–1–2 5–1–1 20–11–4
Pittsburgh 3–4 0–5–2 2–3–2 1–4–2 — 4–3 10–19–6
Washington 6–1 3–2–2 3–4 1–5–1 3–4 — 16–16–3

Vs. Adams Division

1986–87 NHL records
Team BOS BUF HFD MTL QUE Total
New Jersey 1–1–1 1–2 1–1–1 1–2 0–1–2 4–7–4
N.Y. Islanders 0–2–1 1–1–1 1–2 1–1–1 2–1 5–7–3
N.Y. Rangers 2–1 2–1 0–3 0–2–1 2–1 6–8–1
Philadelphia 2–1 2–1 1–2 2–0–1 2–0–1 9–4–2
Pittsburgh 1–2 2–0–1 0–3 1–1–1 3–0 7–6–2
Washington 1–1–1 1–2 1–2 3–0 0–2–1 6–7–2

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Norris Division

1986–87 NHL records
Team CHI DET MIN STL TOR Total
New Jersey 1–2 2–1 1–2 2–1 1–2 7–8–0
N.Y. Islanders 1–2 2–1 3–0 1–1–1 2–1 9–5–1
N.Y. Rangers 1–1–1 1–2 1–1–1 1–2 1–1–1 5–7–3
Philadelphia 2–0–1 2–1 1–2 3–0 1–1–1 9–4–2
Pittsburgh 2–1 1–2 3–0 1–0–2 1–2 8–5–2
Washington 1–1–1 2–0–1 2–0–1 2–0–1 2–1 9–2–4

Vs. Smythe Division

1986–87 NHL records
Team CGY EDM LAK VAN WIN Total
New Jersey 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–0–1 0–3 5–9–1
N.Y. Islanders 0–2–1 0–2–1 1–2 1–2 1–1–1 3–9–2
N.Y. Rangers 1–2 0–3 2–0–1 2–1 1–2 6–8–1
Philadelphia 1–2 2–1 1–2 2–1 2–1 8–7–0
Pittsburgh 1–2 1–2 1–2 1–0–2 1–2 5–8–2
Washington 1–2 2–1 0–3 3–0 1–1–1 7–7–1


Schedule and results

1986–87 Game Log
October: 2–4–4 (Home: 1–2–2; Road: 1–2–2)
Game October Opponent Score Record
1 9 New Jersey Devils 5–3 0–1–0
2 11 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 6–5 OT 0–2–0
3 13 Washington Capitals 7–6 OT 0–3–0
4 15 @ Chicago Blackhawks 5–5 OT 0–3–1
5 18 @ New York Islanders 3–2 1–3–1
6 19 New York Islanders 2–2 OT 1–3–2
7 22 Los Angeles Kings 5–4 OT 2–3–2
8 25 @ Montreal Canadiens 3–3 OT 2–3–3
9 26 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–3 OT 2–3–4
10 29 @ St. Louis Blues 7–2 2–4–4
November: 5–7–2 (Home: 3–2–1; Road: 2–5–1)
Game November Opponent Score Record
11 2 Winnipeg Jets 5–4 OT 2–5–4
12 5 @ Detroit Red Wings 5–4 OT 2–6–4
13 8 @ Philadelphia Flyers 3–2 3–6–4
14 9 @ Quebec Nordiques 6–5 3–7–4
15 12 Buffalo Sabres 2–1 OT 4–7–4
16 14 Philadelphia Flyers 2–1 5–7–4
17 16 Edmonton Oilers 8–6 5–8–4
18 17 @ New Jersey Devils 3–2 5–9–4
19 19 @ Edmonton Oilers 5–4 OT 5–10–4
20 21 @ Vancouver Canucks 8–5 6–10–4
21 22 @ Calgary Flames 8–5 6–11–4
22 26 Quebec Nordiques 4–2 7–11–4
23 29 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 5–5 OT 7–11–5
24 30 Pittsburgh Penguins 2–2 OT 7–11–6
December: 8–6–0 (Home: 4–2–0; Road: 4–4–0)
Game December Opponent Score Record
25 2 @ New Jersey Devils 8–5 7–12–6
26 5 @ Winnipeg Jets 6–3 8–12–6
27 10 Los Angeles Kings 5–4 9–12–6
28 11 @ Montreal Canadiens 6–2 9–13–6
29 14 @ Washington Capitals 3–1 10–13–6
30 15 Minnesota North Stars 4–3 10–14–6
31 17 Washington Capitals 6–1 11–14–6
32 20 @ New York Islanders 5–2 11–15–6
33 21 Hartford Whalers 4–3 OT 11–16–6
34 23 New Jersey Devils 8–5 12–16–6
35 26 @ New Jersey Devils 7–4 13–16–6
36 27 @ St. Louis Blues 3–2 13–17–6
37 30 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 5–3 14–17–6
38 31 New York Islanders 4–3 OT 15–17–6
January: 5–6–2 (Home: 2–3–1; Road: 3–3–1)
Game January Opponent Score Record
39 3 @ Quebec Nordiques 5–2 16–17–6
40 5 Minnesota North Stars 3–3 OT 16–17–7
41 7 Philadelphia Flyers 6–3 16–18–7
42 9 New York Islanders 2–1 16–19–7
43 11 Vancouver Canucks 8–3 17–19–7
44 12 @ Boston Bruins 4–1 17–20–7
45 14 @ Calgary Flames 8–5 18–20–7
46 19 @ Los Angeles Kings 2–2 OT 18–20–8
47 21 @ Vancouver Canucks 5–3 18–21–8
48 23 @ Edmonton Oilers 7–4 18–22–8
49 26 New Jersey Devils 6–3 19–22–8
50 28 Winnipeg Jets 2–1 19–23–8
51 31 @ Philadelphia Flyers 3–1 20–23–8
February: 7–5–0 (Home: 4–3–0; Road: 3–2–0)
Game February Opponent Score Record
52 1 Boston Bruins 5–4 21–23–8
53 4 Washington Capitals 3–2 22–23–8
54 7 @ Washington Capitals 5–4 OT 23–23–8
55 8 Toronto Maple Leafs 5–4 23–24–8
56 15 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–1 24–24–8
57 17 Detroit Red Wings 6–2 25–24–8
58 19 @ Chicago Blackhawks 5–2 25–25–8
59 20 Buffalo Sabres 6–3 25–26–8
60 22 Pittsburgh Penguins 4–2 25–27–8
61 24 @ Buffalo Sabres 6–3 26–27–8
62 25 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4–2 27–27–8
63 28 @ Detroit Red Wings 4–1 27–28–8
March: 7–7–0 (Home: 4–4–0; Road: 3–3–0)
Game March Opponent Score Record
64 1 @ Washington Capitals 7–3 27–29–8
65 4 New York Islanders 7–5 28–29–8
66 8 Calgary Flames 7–4 28–30–8
67 11 Boston Bruins 3–2 29–30–8
68 12 @ Philadelphia Flyers 6–1 30–30–8
69 14 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 3–2 OT 31–30–8
70 15 Philadelphia Flyers 5–2 31–31–8
71 17 @ Philadelphia Flyers 4–1 31–32–8
72 18 Hartford Whalers 5–3 31–33–8
73 21 @ New York Islanders 4–3 31–34–8
74 22 Chicago Blackhawks 5–3 32–34–8
75 25 New Jersey Devils 8–2 32–35–8
76 27 St. Louis Blues 6–4 33–35–8
77 30 @ Minnesota North Stars 6–5 34–35–8
April: 0–3–0 (Home: 0–2–0; Road: 0–1–0)
Game April Opponent Score Record
78 1 Washington Capitals 5–1 34–36–8
79 4 @ Hartford Whalers 5–3 34–37–8
80 5 Montreal Canadiens 8–2 34–38–8

Playoffs

Key:   Win   Loss

1987 Stanley Cup playoffs
Division Semi-finals: vs. Philadelphia Flyers – Philadelphia wins series 4–2
# Date Visitor Score Home OT Series
1 April 8 New York Rangers 3–0 Philadelphia Flyers New York Rangers lead series 1–0
2 April 9 New York Rangers 3–8 Philadelphia Flyers Series tied 1–1
3 April 11 Philadelphia Flyers 3–0 New York Rangers Philadelphia leads series 2–1
4 April 12 Philadelphia Flyers 3–6 New York Rangers Series tied 2–2
5 April 14 New York Rangers 1–3 Philadelphia Flyers Philadelphia leads series 3–2
6 April 16 Philadelphia Flyers 5–0 New York Rangers Philadelphia wins series 4–2

Player statistics

Skaters
Regular Season
Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM
Walt Poddubny 75 40 47 87 16 49
Tomas Sandstrom 64 40 34 74 8 60
Kelly Kisio 70 24 40 64 −5 73
Pierre Larouche 73 28 35 63 −7 12
Don Maloney 72 19 38 57 7 117
James Patrick 78 10 45 55 13 62
Tony McKegney† 64 29 17 46 −1 56
Ron Greschner 61 6 34 40 −6 62
Mike Ridley‡ 38 16 20 36 −10 20
Mark Osborne‡ 58 17 15 32 −15 101
Willie Huber 66 8 22 30 −13 68
Jan Erixon 68 8 18 26 3 24
Ron Duguay† 34 9 12 21 −8 9
Kelly Miller‡ 38 6 14 20 −5 22
Curt Giles† 61 2 17 19 3 50
Larry Melnyk 73 3 12 15 −13 182
Terry Carkner 52 2 13 15 −1 118
Chris Jensen 37 6 7 13 −1 21
Lucien DeBlois 40 3 8 11 −7 27
Tom Laidlaw‡ 63 1 10 11 −18 65
Marcel Dionne† 14 4 6 10 −8 6
Bobby Carpenter†‡ 28 2 8 10 −12 20
George McPhee 21 4 4 8 −2 34
Bob Brooke‡ 15 3 5 8 −3 20
Kjell Samuelsson‡ 30 2 6 8 −2 50
Jeff Jackson† 9 5 1 6 −3 15
Raimo Helminen‡ 21 2 4 6 −8 2
Dave Gagner 10 1 4 5 −1 12
Lane Lambert‡ 18 2 2 4 2 33
Brad Maxwell†‡ 9 0 4 4 −1 6
Jay Caufield 13 2 1 3 −2 45
Mike Donnelly 5 1 1 2 0 0
Pat Price† 13 0 2 2 −8 49
Gordie Walker 1 1 0 1 2 4
Don Jackson 22 1 0 1 −1 91
Norm Maciver 3 0 1 1 −5 0
Jim Leavins 4 0 1 1 0 4
Mike Siltala 1 0 0 0 1 0
Bob Crawford‡ 3 0 0 0 −1 2
Stu Kulak† 3 0 0 0 −1 0
Ron Talakoski 3 0 0 0 1 21
Paul Fenton 8 0 0 0 −5 2
Playoffs
Player GP G A Pts PIM
Ron Greschner 6 0 5 5 0
Pierre Larouche 6 3 2 5 4
James Patrick 6 1 2 3 2
Don Maloney 6 2 1 3 6
Tomas Sandstrom 6 1 2 3 20
Jeff Jackson 6 1 1 2 16
Marcel Dionne 6 1 1 2 2
Ron Duguay 6 2 0 2 4
Willie Huber 6 0 2 2 6
Pat Price 6 0 1 1 27
George McPhee 6 1 0 1 28
Jan Erixon 6 1 0 1 0
Kelly Kisio 4 0 1 1 2
Stu Kulak 3 0 0 0 2
Jay Caufield 3 0 0 0 12
Lucien DeBlois 2 0 0 0 2
Terry Carkner 1 0 0 0 0
Larry Melnyk 6 0 0 0 4
Curt Giles 5 0 0 0 6
Tony McKegney 6 0 0 0 12
Walt Poddubny 6 0 0 0 8

Goaltenders
Regular Season
Player GP TOI W L T GA GAA SA SV% SO
John Vanbiesbrouck 50 2656 18 20 5 161 3.64 1363 .882 0
Bob Froese† 28 1474 14 11 0 92 3.74 783 .883 0
Doug Soetaert 13 675 2 7 2 58 5.16 367 .842 0
Ron Scott 1 65 0 0 1 5 4.62 35 .857 0
Playoffs
Player GP TOI W L GA GAA SA SV% SO
John Vanbiesbrouck 4 195 1 3 11 3.38 110 .900 1
Bob Froese 4 165 1 1 10 3.64 96 .896 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.

[5]

Note:
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

Transactions

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1986 NHL Entry Draft in Montreal, Canada at the Montreal Forum.[6][7]

Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
1 9 Brian Leetch D  United States Avon Old Farms (Connecticut)
3 51 Bret Walter C  Canada University of Alberta (CIAU)
3 53 Shaun Clouston C  Canada University of Alberta (CIAU)
4 72 Mark Janssens C  Canada Regina Pats (WHL)
5 93 Jeff Bloemberg D  Canada North Bay Centennials (OHL)
6 114 Darren Turcotte C  United States North Bay Centennials (OHL)
7 135 Rob Graham RW  United States Guelph Platers (OHL)
8 156 Barry Chyzowski C  Canada St. Albert Saints (AJHL)
9 177 Pat Scanlon LW  United States Cretin Derham Hall H.S. (Minnesota)
10 198 Joe Ranger D  Canada London Knights (OHL)
11 219 Russ Parent D  Canada South Winnipeg Blues (MJHL)
12 240 Soren True LW  Denmark Skobakken (Denmark)

Supplemental Draft

New York's picks at the 1986 NHL Supplemental Draft.[8]

Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League)
2 12 Gary Emmons C  Canada Northern Michigan University (CCHA)

Farm teams

References

  1. ^ "New York Rangers". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
  2. ^ "1986–87 New York Rangers Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
  3. ^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
  4. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  5. ^ "1986–87 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
  6. ^ "1986 NHL Entry Draft". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  7. ^ "NHL Draft History". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on January 28, 2001. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  8. ^ "1986 NHL Supplemental Draft". hockeydb.com. Retrieved October 8, 2011.
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