1985–86 New York Rangers season

1985–86 New York Rangers
Division	4th Patrick
Conference	Prince of Wales
1985–86 record	34–38–8
Home record	20–18–2
Road record	16–20–4
Goals for	280
Goals against	276
Team information
General manager	Craig Patrick
Coach	Ted Sator
Captain	Barry Beck Ron Greschner
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Team leaders
Goals	Tomas Sandstrom (25)
Assists	Mike Ridley (43)
Points	Mike Ridley (65)
Penalty minutes	Bob Brooke (111)
Wins	John Vanbiesbrouck (31)
Goals against average	John Vanbiesbrouck (3.32)

The 1985–86 New York Rangers season was the 60th season for the team in the National Hockey League (NHL). The Rangers finished 4th in the Patrick Division and lost in the Conference Finals to the Montreal Canadiens 4 games to 1.

Off-season

Draft Picks

See also: 1985 NHL Entry Draft

Round	#	Player	Nationality	College/junior/club team (League)
1	7	Ulf Dahlen (RW)	Sweden	Östersund (Sweden)
2	28	Mike Richter (G)	United States	University of Wisconsin–Madison (NCAA)

Regular Season

Final Standings

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	PTS
Philadelphia Flyers	80	53	23	4	335	241	110
Washington Capitals	80	50	23	7	315	272	107
New York Islanders	80	39	29	12	327	284	90
New York Rangers	80	36	38	6	280	276	78
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	34	38	8	313	305	76
New Jersey Devils	80	28	49	3	300	374	59

Note: W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, Pts = Points
Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Game Log

Regular Season Results
No.	R	Date	Score	Opponent	Record
1	W	October 10, 1985	4–2	Washington Capitals (1985–86)	1–0–0
2	L	October 12, 1985	2–8	@ Hartford Whalers (1985–86)	1–1–0
3	L	October 13, 1985	2–3 OT	New Jersey Devils (1985–86)	1–2–0
4	L	October 16, 1985	3–4	@ Los Angeles Kings (1985–86)	1–3–0
5	L	October 19, 1985	4–5	@ New York Islanders (1985–86)	1–4–0
6	W	October 20, 1985	4–3	Vancouver Canucks (1985–86)	2–4–0
7	W	October 23, 1985	5–1	New Jersey Devils (1985–86)	3–4–0
8	W	October 25, 1985	5–0	Los Angeles Kings (1985–86)	4–4–0
9	W	October 27, 1985	2–1	Boston Bruins (1985–86)	5–4–0
10	L	November 2, 1985	5–6 OT	@ New Jersey Devils (1985–86)	5–5–0
11	W	November 4, 1985	4–2	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1985–86)	6–5–0
12	L	November 6, 1985	2–5	Philadelphia Flyers (1985–86)	6–6–0
13	W	November 8, 1985	7–3	@ Winnipeg Jets (1985–86)	7–6–0
14	L	November 9, 1985	3–4 OT	@ Minnesota North Stars (1985–86)	7–7–0
15	L	November 11, 1985	4–5 OT	Chicago Black Hawks (1985–86)	7–8–0
16	W	November 13, 1985	5–2	Montreal Canadiens (1985–86)	8–8–0
17	T	November 16, 1985	2–2 OT	@ Montreal Canadiens (1985–86)	8–8–1
18	L	November 17, 1985	2–3 OT	Edmonton Oilers (1985–86)	8–9–1
19	W	November 20, 1985	7–3	Toronto Maple Leafs (1985–86)	9–9–1
20	W	November 23, 1985	5–0	@ New York Islanders (1985–86)	10–9–1
21	L	November 24, 1985	3–4 OT	New York Islanders (1985–86)	10–10–1
22	L	November 27, 1985	2–5	Calgary Flames (1985–86)	10–11–1
23	W	November 29, 1985	5–2	@ Washington Capitals (1985–86)	11–11–1
24	L	November 30, 1985	4–5	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1985–86)	11–12–1
25	L	December 2, 1985	0–6	Pittsburgh Penguins (1985–86)	11–13–1
26	W	December 4, 1985	7–4	Winnipeg Jets (1985–86)	12–13–1
27	L	December 7, 1985	0–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1985–86)	12–14–1
28	W	December 8, 1985	3–1	Philadelphia Flyers (1985–86)	13–14–1
29	W	December 11, 1985	4–2	@ New Jersey Devils (1985–86)	14–14–1
30	L	December 14, 1985	2–4	@ Boston Bruins (1985–86)	14–15–1
31	L	December 15, 1985	2–5	Pittsburgh Penguins (1985–86)	14–16–1
32	L	December 18, 1985	4–5	Buffalo Sabres (1985–86)	14–17–1
33	T	December 20, 1985	2–2 OT	New York Islanders (1985–86)	14–17–2
34	W	December 21, 1985	5–4	@ New York Islanders (1985–86)	15–17–2
35	W	December 23, 1985	10–2	Detroit Red Wings (1985–86)	16–17–2
36	L	December 26, 1985	1–6	@ Buffalo Sabres (1985–86)	16–18–2
37	L	December 28, 1985	1–3	@ Minnesota North Stars (1985–86)	16–19–2
38	W	December 29, 1985	6–5	Washington Capitals (1985–86)	17–19–2
39	L	January 1, 1986	0–3	@ Washington Capitals (1985–86)	17–20–2
40	L	January 5, 1986	4–5	Quebec Nordiques (1985–86)	17–21–2
41	W	January 10, 1986	6–4	Montreal Canadiens (1985–86)	18–21–2
42	T	January 12, 1986	2–2 OT	St. Louis Blues (1985–86)	18–21–3
43	W	January 14, 1986	2–1	@ Vancouver Canucks (1985–86)	19–21–3
44	W	January 15, 1986	4–3	@ Los Angeles Kings (1985–86)	20–21–3
45	W	January 18, 1986	5–4	@ Edmonton Oilers (1985–86)	21–21–3
46	L	January 20, 1986	0–5	Hartford Whalers (1985–86)	21–22–3
47	W	January 22, 1986	4–2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1985–86)	22–22–3
48	L	January 23, 1986	0–4	Quebec Nordiques (1985–86)	22–23–3
49	T	January 27, 1986	6–6 OT	@ Quebec Nordiques (1985–86)	22–23–4
50	L	January 29, 1986	4–5	@ Chicago Black Hawks (1985–86)	22–24–4
51	L	January 31, 1986	3–5	@ Buffalo Sabres (1985–86)	22–25–4
52	W	February 1, 1986	3–1	@ Hartford Whalers (1985–86)	23–25–4
53	L	February 5, 1986	3–4	@ St. Louis Blues (1985–86)	23–26–4
54	W	February 8, 1986	3–2	@ Boston Bruins (1985–86)	24–26–4
55	W	February 12, 1986	5–2	Vancouver Canucks (1985–86)	25–26–4
56	W	February 14, 1986	7–5	@ Detroit Red Wings (1985–86)	26–26–4
57	W	February 16, 1986	3–1	Detroit Red Wings (1985–86)	27–26–4
58	W	February 20, 1986	3–2	St. Louis Blues (1985–86)	28–26–4
59	W	February 24, 1986	5–1	Minnesota North Stars (1985–86)	29–26–4
60	L	February 25, 1986	3–7	@ Toronto Maple Leafs (1985–86)	29–27–4
61	W	February 27, 1986	8–3	Pittsburgh Penguins (1985–86)	30–27–4
62	L	March 1, 1986	0–4	@ Washington Capitals (1985–86)	30–28–4
63	L	March 2, 1986	2–4	Washington Capitals (1985–86)	30–29–4
64	L	March 5, 1986	1–4	@ Winnipeg Jets (1985–86)	30–30–4
65	W	March 6, 1986	5–2	@ Calgary Flames (1985–86)	31–30–4
66	L	March 9, 1986	1–4	Philadelphia Flyers (1985–86)	31–31–4
67	W	March 11, 1986	6–3	@ New Jersey Devils (1985–86)	32–31–4
68	L	March 12, 1986	2–3	Calgary Flames (1985–86)	32–32–4
69	T	March 15, 1986	2–2 OT	@ Pittsburgh Penguins (1985–86)	32–32–5
70	W	March 16, 1986	3–1	New York Islanders (1985–86)	33–32–5
71	L	March 18, 1986	2–6	@ New York Islanders (1985–86)	33–33–5
72	L	March 22, 1986	2–4	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1985–86)	33–34–5
73	L	March 23, 1986	3–5	Chicago Black Hawks (1985–86)	33–35–5
74	W	March 25, 1986	5–4	@ New Jersey Devils (1985–86)	34–35–5
75	W	March 28, 1986	4–2	Edmonton Oilers (1985–86)	35–35–5
76	L	March 29, 1986	2–8	@ Philadelphia Flyers (1985–86)	35–36–5
77	W	March 31, 1986	9–0	New Jersey Devils (1985–86)	36–36–5
78	L	April 2, 1986	2–3	Philadelphia Flyers (1985–86)	36–37–5
79	T	April 5, 1986	4–4 OT	@ Washington Capitals (1985–86)	36–37–6
80	L	April 6, 1986	4–5 OT	Pittsburgh Penguins (1985–86)	36–38–6

Playoffs

New York Rangers 3, Philadelphia Flyers 2

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 9	New York	6	Philadelphia	2
April 10	New York	1	Philadelphia	2
April 12	Philadelphia	2	New York	5
April 13	Philadelphia	7	New York	1
April 15	New York	5	Philadelphia	2

New York Rangers 4, Washington Capitals 2

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
April 17	New York	4	Washington	3	(OT)
April 19	New York	1	Washington	8
April 21	Washington	6	New York	3
April 23	Washington	5	New York	6	(OT)
April 25	New York	4	Washington	2
April 27	Washington	1	New York	2

Montreal Canadiens 4, New York Rangers 1

This series is best remembered for the third game, in which the Rangers badly outshot the Habs, but were stymied by Patrick Roy. Another Montreal rookie, Claude Lemieux, scored in overtime, his second overtime goal of the playoffs.

Date	Away	Score	Home	Score	Notes
May 1	New York	1	Montreal	2
May 3	New York	2	Montreal	6
May 5	Montreal	4	New York	3	(OT)
May 7	Montreal	0	New York	2
May 9	New York	1	Montreal	3

Player Stats

Regular Season

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Ridley, MikeMike Ridley	C	80	22	43	65	69	0	7	0	6
Ruotsalainen, ReijoReijo Ruotsalainen	D	80	17	42	59	47	22	6	0	2
Sandstrom, TomasTomas Sandstrom	RW	73	25	29	54	109	-4	8	2	1
Greschner, RonRon Greschner	D	78	20	28	48	104	9	6	1	2
Brooke, BobBob Brooke	C	79	24	20	44	111	6	6	2	1
Patrick, JamesJames Patrick	D	75	14	29	43	88	14	2	1	1
Pavelich, MarkMark Pavelich	C	59	20	20	40	82	-3	8	0	3
Osborne, MarkMark Osborne	LW	62	16	24	40	80	5	5	1	1
Helminen, RaimoRaimo Helminen	C	66	10	30	40	10	-1	4	0	2
Miller, KellyKelly Miller	LW	74	13	20	33	52	3	0	1	3
MacLellan, BrianBrian MacLellan	LW	51	11	21	32	47	-20	8	0	1
Maloney, DonDon Maloney	LW	68	11	17	28	56	18	0	0	1
Larouche, PierrePierre Larouche	C	28	20	7	27	4	-6	7	0	2
Sundstrom, PeterPeter Sundstrom	LW	53	8	15	23	12	7	0	0	1
Erixon, JanJan Erixon	LW	31	2	17	19	4	12	0	0	0
Laidlaw, TomTom Laidlaw	D	68	6	12	18	103	-3	0	1	0
Huber, WillieWillie Huber	D	70	7	8	15	85	-11	1	0	2
Allison, MikeMike Allison	LW	28	2	13	15	22	4	0	0	0
Beck, BarryBarry Beck	D	25	4	8	12	24	7	3	0	1
Ledyard, GrantGrant Ledyard	D	27	2	9	11	20	-7	0	0	0
Gagner, DaveDave Gagner	C	32	4	6	10	19	1	0	0	0
Melnyk, LarryLarry Melnyk	D	46	1	8	9	65	2	0	0	0
McPhee, GeorgeGeorge McPhee	LW	30	4	4	8	63	5	0	0	1
Patrick, SteveSteve Patrick	RW	28	4	3	7	37	-7	0	0	0
McEwen, MikeMike McEwen	D	16	2	5	7	8	-4	0	0	1
Paiement, WilfWilf Paiement	RW	8	1	6	7	13	2	0	0	0
Whistle, RobRob Whistle	D	32	4	2	6	10	-1	1	0	1
Jensen, ChrisChris Jensen	RW	9	1	3	4	0	1	0	0	1
Rogers, MikeMike Rogers	C	9	1	3	4	2	2	1	0	1
Wiemer, JimJim Wiemer	D	7	3	0	3	2	0	0	0	1
Crawford, BobBob Crawford	RW	11	1	2	3	10	2	0	0	0
Vanbiesbrouck, JohnJohn Vanbiesbrouck	G	61	0	3	3	16	0	0	0	0
Richmond, SteveSteve Richmond	D	17	0	2	2	63	2	0	0	0
Heath, RandyRandy Heath	LW	1	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0
Hanlon, GlenGlen Hanlon	G	23	0	1	1	4	0	0	0	0
Samuelsson, KjellKjell Samuelsson	D	9	0	0	0	10	-1	0	0	0
Feltrin, TonyTony Feltrin	D	10	0	0	0	21	-3	0	0	0
Kleisinger, TerryTerry Kleisinger	G	4	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
Scott, RonRon Scott	G	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Vanbiesbrouck, JohnJohn Vanbiesbrouck	3326	61	31	21	5	184	3.32	3	1625	1441	.887
Hanlon, GlenGlen Hanlon	1170	23	5	12	1	65	3.33	0	608	543	.893
Kleisinger, TerryTerry Kleisinger	191	4	0	2	0	14	4.40	0	109	95	.872
Scott, RonRon Scott	156	4	0	3	0	11	4.23	0	56	45	.804
Team:	4843	80	36	38	6	274	3.39	3	2398	2124	.886

Playoffs

Scoring

Player	Pos	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
Larouche, PierrePierre Larouche	C	16	8	9	17	2	-5	4	0	1
Brooke, BobBob Brooke	C	16	6	9	15	28	7	0	2	2
Ridley, MikeMike Ridley	C	16	6	8	14	26	-5	2	0	1
Paiement, WilfWilf Paiement	RW	16	5	5	10	45	2	4	0	0
Sandstrom, TomasTomas Sandstrom	RW	16	4	6	10	20	-3	0	0	1
Ruotsalainen, ReijoReijo Ruotsalainen	D	16	0	8	8	6	-1	0	0	0
Miller, KellyKelly Miller	LW	16	3	4	7	4	-1	0	1	0
MacLellan, BrianBrian MacLellan	LW	16	2	4	6	15	1	0	0	1
Patrick, JamesJames Patrick	D	16	1	5	6	34	1	0	0	0
Huber, WillieWillie Huber	D	16	3	2	5	16	-5	2	0	0
Osborne, MarkMark Osborne	LW	15	2	3	5	26	-2	0	1	1
Greschner, RonRon Greschner	D	5	3	1	4	11	2	0	0	0
Maloney, DonDon Maloney	LW	16	2	1	3	31	-6	0	0	0
Melnyk, LarryLarry Melnyk	D	16	1	2	3	46	-9	0	0	0
Laidlaw, TomTom Laidlaw	D	7	0	2	2	12	-2	0	0	0
Allison, MikeMike Allison	LW	16	0	2	2	38	-8	0	0	0
Vanbiesbrouck, JohnJohn Vanbiesbrouck	G	16	0	2	2	2	0	0	0	0
Wiemer, JimJim Wiemer	D	8	1	0	1	6	-1	1	0	1
Crawford, BobBob Crawford	RW	7	0	1	1	8	0	0	0	0
Samuelsson, KjellKjell Samuelsson	D	9	0	1	1	8	-2	0	0	0
Erixon, JanJan Erixon	LW	12	0	1	1	4	-2	0	0	0
Sundstrom, PeterPeter Sundstrom	LW	1	0	0	0	2	-1	0	0	0
Helminen, RaimoRaimo Helminen	C	2	0	0	0	0	-2	0	0	0
Whistle, RobRob Whistle	D	3	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0
McPhee, GeorgeGeorge McPhee	LW	11	0	0	0	32	-2	0	0	0
Hanlon, GlenGlen Hanlon	G	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Goaltending

Player	MIN	GP	W	L	GA	GAA	SO	SA	SV	SV%
Vanbiesbrouck, JohnJohn Vanbiesbrouck	899	16	8	8	49	3.27	1	477	428	.897
Hanlon, GlenGlen Hanlon	75	3	0	0	6	4.80	0	32	26	.813
Team:	974	16	8	8	55	3.39	1	509	454	.892

Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals

MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage

Awards and Records

• Vezina Trophy: John Vanbiesbrouck
• John Vanbiesbrouck, Goalie, NHL First Team All-Star

See Also

• 1985–86 NHL season

References

• Rangers on Hockey Database

New York Rangers
Team	Franchise • Players • Coaches • GMs • Seasons • Records • Draft Picks • History Madison Square Garden
Stanley Cups	1928, 1933, 1940, 1994
Affiliates	Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL), Maine Mariners (ECHL)