1986–87 New York Rangers season

1986–87 New York Rangers
1986–87 New York Rangers
Division	4th Patrick
Conference	7th Wales
1986–87 record	34–38–8
Home record	18–18–4
Road record	16–20–4
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 →

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 regular season^[5]

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

Legend: Win (2 points) Loss (0 points) Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

1987 Stanley Cup playoffs^[5]

Division semifinals vs. (P1) Philadelphia Flyers – Philadelphia wins 4–2

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	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

Legend: Win Loss

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%
John Vanbiesbrouck	50	2656	18	20	5	161	3.64	1363	.882
Bob Froese^†	28	1474	14	11	0	92	3.74	783	.883
Doug Soetaert	13	675	2	7	2	58	5.16	367	.842
Ron Scott	1	65	0	0	1	5	4.62	35	.857

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.

^[6]

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.^[7]^[8]

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.^[9]

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

References

^ "New York Rangers". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
^ "1986–87 New York Rangers Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved October 9, 2010.
^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
^ ^a ^b "1986–87 New York Rangers Schedule". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
^ "1986–87 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 8, 2010.
^ "1986 NHL Entry Draft". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
^ "NHL Draft History". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on January 28, 2001. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
^ "1986 NHL Supplemental Draft". hockeydb.com. Retrieved October 8, 2011.

[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.

[nhl-gd-standings-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.

[Gamelog-5] "1986–87 New York Rangers Schedule". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved March 30, 2025.

[6] "1986–87 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 8, 2010.

[7] "1986 NHL Entry Draft". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved June 2, 2012.

[8] "NHL Draft History". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on January 28, 2001. Retrieved June 16, 2017.

[9] "1986 NHL Supplemental Draft". hockeydb.com. Retrieved October 8, 2011.

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[9]

v t e New York Rangers seasons
1920s	1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30
1930s	1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40
1940s	1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50
1950s	1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60
1960s	1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70
1970s	1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80
1980s	1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90
1990s	1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00
2000s	2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10
2010s	2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20
2020s	2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
Highlighted seasons indicate Stanley Cup championship

v t e 1986–87 NHL season
Patrick	New Jersey NY Islanders NY Rangers Philadelphia Pittsburgh Washington
Adams	Boston Buffalo Hartford Montreal Quebec
Norris	Chicago Detroit Minnesota St. Louis Toronto
Smythe	Calgary Edmonton Los Angeles Vancouver Winnipeg
See also	Entry Draft Supplemental draft Waiver draft Rendez-vous '87 Easter Epic Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup Finals