1986–87 New York Rangers season

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]

1986–87 New York Rangers
Division	4th Patrick
Conference	7th Wales
1986–87 record	34–38–8
Goals for	307
Goals against	323
Team information
General manager	Phil Esposito
Coach	Ted Sator Tom Webster Phil Esposito
Captain	Ron Greschner
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Team leaders
Goals	Walt Poddubny/Tomas Sandstrom (40)
Assists	Walt Poddubny (47)
Points	Walt Poddubny (87)
Penalty minutes	Larry Melnyk (182)
Wins	John Vanbiesbrouck (18)
Goals against average	John Vanbiesbrouck (3.64)
← 1985–86 1987–88 →

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

Main article: 1987 Stanley Cup 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