1990–91 New York Rangers season

1990–91 New York Rangers
1990–91 New York Rangers
Division	2nd Patrick
Conference	4th Wales
1990–91 record	36–31–13
Home record	22–11–7
Road record	14–20–6
Goals for	297
Goals against	265
Team information
General manager	Neil Smith
Coach	Roger Neilson
Captain	Kelly Kisio
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Team leaders
Goals	Mike Gartner (49)
Assists	Brian Leetch (72)
Points	Brian Leetch (88)
Penalty minutes	Troy Mallette (252)
Wins	Mike Richter (21)
Goals against average	Mike Richter (3.12)
	← 1989–90 1991–92 →

The 1990–91 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 65th season. During the regular season, the Rangers were 36–31–13 and finished in second place in the Patrick Division, qualifying for the playoffs. In the division semi-finals, New York lost in six games to the Washington Capitals.^[1]

Regular season

The Rangers' 91 power-play goals scored during the regular season were good enough for first place in the league, tied with the Calgary Flames. The Rangers finished second overall in power-play percentage, with 23.39% (91 for 389).^[2]

Final standings

Patrick Division
	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	41	33	6	342	305	88
New York Rangers	80	36	31	13	297	265	85
Washington Capitals	80	37	36	7	258	258	81
New Jersey Devils	80	32	33	15	272	264	79
Philadelphia Flyers	80	33	37	10	252	267	76
New York Islanders	80	25	45	10	223	290	60

^[3]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.

Wales Conference^[4]
R		Div	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
1	Boston Bruins	ADM	80	44	24	12	299	264	100
2	Montreal Canadiens	ADM	80	39	30	11	273	249	89
3	Pittsburgh Penguins	PTK	80	41	33	6	342	305	88
4	New York Rangers	PTK	80	36	31	13	297	265	85
5	Washington Capitals	PTK	80	37	36	7	258	258	81
6	Buffalo Sabres	ADM	80	31	30	19	292	278	81
7	New Jersey Devils	PTK	80	32	33	15	272	264	79
8	Philadelphia Flyers	PTK	80	33	37	10	252	267	76
9	Hartford Whalers	ADM	80	31	38	11	238	276	73
10	New York Islanders	PTK	80	25	45	10	223	290	60
11	Quebec Nordiques	ADM	80	16	50	14	236	354	46

Divisions: PTK – Patrick, ADM – Adams

bold – Qualified for playoffs

Schedule and results

1990–91 regular season^[5]

October: 11–3–0 (home: 8–0–0; road: 3–3–0)

Game	October	Opponent	Score	Record
1	4	@ Chicago Blackhawks	4 – 3	0–1–0
2	6	@ Hartford Whalers	5 – 4	0–2–0
3	8	Minnesota North Stars	6 – 3	1–2–0
4	10	Washington Capitals	4 – 2	2–2–0
5	12	Montreal Canadiens	3 – 0	3–2–0
6	13	@ Washington Capitals	5 – 2	4–2–0
7	17	Winnipeg Jets	5 – 3	5–2–0
8	19	@ New Jersey Devils	3 – 2	5–3–0
9	20	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	4 – 3	6–3–0
10	22	Toronto Maple Leafs	5 – 1	7–3–0
11	25	Philadelphia Flyers	5 – 3	8–3–0
12	27	@ Quebec Nordiques	4 – 1	9–3–0
13	29	Quebec Nordiques	5 – 0	10–3–0
14	31	Los Angeles Kings	9 – 4	11–3–0

November: 5–5–5 (home: 2–3–2; road: 3–2–3)

Game	November	Opponent	Score	Record
15	2	New York Islanders	3 – 2	11–4–0
16	3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	3 – 1	11–5–0
17	5	Boston Bruins	3 – 2 OT	11–6–0
18	7	Buffalo Sabres	6 – 2	12–6–0
19	9	@ New Jersey Devils	3 – 2	13–6–0
20	11	Calgary Flames	4 – 4 OT	13–6–1
21	13	@ Philadelphia Flyers	1 – 1 OT	13–6–2
22	15	@ Minnesota North Stars	4 – 2	14–6–2
23	16	@ Winnipeg Jets	6 – 4	15–6–2
24	19	Minnesota North Stars	2 – 2 OT	15–6–3
25	21	@ Buffalo Sabres	5 – 5 OT	15–6–4
26	24	@ New York Islanders	2 – 2 OT	15–6–5
27	26	Buffalo Sabres	5 – 0	16–6–5
28	28	Washington Capitals	6 – 3	16–7–5
29	30	@ Philadelphia Flyers	5 – 1	16–8–5

December: 5–5–2 (home: 1–2–2; road: 4–3–0)

Game	December	Opponent	Score	Record
30	1	@ Boston Bruins	5 – 4	17–8–5
31	3	Pittsburgh Penguins	9 – 4	17–9–5
32	5	@ Calgary Flames	4 – 1	17–10–5
33	7	@ Edmonton Oilers	4 – 3	17–11–5
34	11	@ Los Angeles Kings	6 – 4	18–11–5
35	14	@ Vancouver Canucks	5 – 3	19–11–5
36	17	Washington Capitals	5 – 3	20–11–5
37	19	Toronto Maple Leafs	4 – 1	20–12–5
38	22	@ Montreal Canadiens	3 – 1	20–13–5
39	23	Boston Bruins	5 – 5 OT	20–13–6
40	28	@ Washington Capitals	5 – 3	21–13–6
41	30	New Jersey Devils	2 – 2 OT	21–13–7

January: 6–5–2 (home: 3–2–1; road: 3–3–1)

Game	January	Opponent	Score	Record
42	2	Los Angeles Kings	4 – 1	22–13–7
43	3	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	7 – 5	23–13–7
44	5	@ St. Louis Blues	3 – 2 OT	24–13–7
45	7	Philadelphia Flyers	3 – 2	25–13–7
46	9	St. Louis Blues	3 – 2	25–14–7
47	11	@ Detroit Red Wings	6 – 3	25–15–7
48	13	Hartford Whalers	4 – 3	26–15–7
49	15	Edmonton Oilers	2 – 2 OT	26–15–8
50	17	Chicago Blackhawks	3 – 2	26–16–8
51	22	@ New York Islanders	3 – 2	26–17–8
52	25	@ Edmonton Oilers	4 – 3	27–17–8
53	30	@ Calgary Flames	5 – 1	27–18–8
54	31	@ Vancouver Canucks	3 – 3 OT	27–18–9

February: 5–4–3 (home: 5–2–1; road: 0–2–2)

Game	February	Opponent	Score	Record
55	3	Winnipeg Jets	4 – 3	27–19–9
56	6	New York Islanders	5 – 2	28–19–9
57	8	Vancouver Canucks	8 – 1	29–19–9
58	9	@ Montreal Canadiens	6 – 4	29–20–9
59	13	New Jersey Devils	6 – 3	30–20–9
60	15	Hartford Whalers	5 – 3	31–20–9
61	18	New York Islanders	5 – 4	31–21–9
62	21	@ Philadelphia Flyers	4 – 4 OT	31–21–10
63	22	@ Washington Capitals	3 – 2	31–22–10
64	24	New Jersey Devils	5 – 2	32–22–10
65	27	Washington Capitals	4 – 4 OT	32–22–11
66	28	@ St. Louis Blues	4 – 4 OT	32–22–12

March: 4–9–1 (home: 3–2–1; road: 1–7–0)

Game	March	Opponent	Score	Record
67	2	@ Toronto Maple Leafs	5 – 2	33–22–12
68	4	Philadelphia Flyers	6 – 2	34–22–12
69	7	@ Quebec Nordiques	4 – 2	34–23–12
70	9	@ New York Islanders	6 – 4	34–24–12
71	10	@ Chicago Blackhawks	5 – 2	34–25–12
72	13	Detroit Red Wings	4 – 1	34–26–12
73	15	@ New Jersey Devils	5 – 2	34–27–12
74	17	Pittsburgh Penguins	4 – 2	34–28–12
75	21	@ Pittsburgh Penguins	5 – 4 OT	34–29–12
76	23	@ Philadelphia Flyers	7 – 4	34–30–12
77	24	New York Islanders	3 – 1	35–30–12
78	26	New Jersey Devils	3 – 3 OT	35–30–13
79	30	@ Detroit Red Wings	6 – 5	35–31–13
80	31	Pittsburgh Penguins	6 – 3	36–31–13

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

Playoffs

1991 Stanley Cup playoffs^[5]

Division semifinals vs. (P3) Washington Capitals – Capitals win 4–2

Game	Date	Visitor	Score	Home	Attendance	Series
1	April 3	Washington Capitals	1 – 2	New York Rangers	16,792	Rangers lead series 1–0
2	April 5	Washington Capitals	3 – 0	New York Rangers	16,792	Series tied 1–1
3	April 7	New York Rangers	6 – 0	Washington Capitals	16,592	Rangers lead series 2–1
4	April 9	New York Rangers	2 – 3	Washington Capitals	15,741	Series tied 2–2
5	April 11	Washington Capitals	5 – 4	New York Rangers	16,792	Washington leads series 3–2
6	April 13	New York Rangers	2 – 4	Washington Capitals	18,130	Washington wins series 4–2

Legend: Win Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
Brian Leetch	80	16	72	88	2	42
Bernie Nicholls	71	25	48	73	5	96
Mike Gartner	79	49	20	69	-9	53
Darren Turcotte	74	26	41	67	-5	37
Brian Mullen	79	19	43	62	12	44
James Patrick	74	10	49	59	-5	58
John Ogrodnick	79	31	23	54	15	10
Ray Sheppard	59	24	23	47	8	21
Kevin Miller^‡	63	17	27	44	1	63
Kelly Kisio	51	15	20	35	3	58
Kris King	72	11	14	25	-1	154
Jan Erixon	53	7	18	25	13	8
Randy Moller	61	4	19	23	13	161
Troy Mallette	71	12	10	22	-8	252
Mark Janssens	67	9	7	16	-1	172
Jody Hull	47	5	8	13	2	10
David Shaw	77	2	10	12	8	89
Paul Broten	28	4	6	10	7	18
Normand Rochefort	44	3	7	10	10	35
Miloslav Horava	29	1	6	7	2	12
Mark Hardy	70	1	5	6	-1	89
Corey Millen	4	3	1	4	1	0
Steven Rice	11	1	1	2	2	4
Jeff Bloemberg	3	0	2	2	3	0
Joe Cirella^†	19	1	0	1	1	52
Tie Domi	28	1	0	1	-5	185
Lindy Ruff	14	0	1	1	-2	27
Brian McReynolds	1	0	0	0	-1	0
Joey Kocur^†	5	0	0	0	-1	36
Rick Bennett	6	0	0	0	-2	6
Dennis Vial^‡	21	0	0	0	-4	61

Playoffs
Player	GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
Bernie Nicholls	5	4	3	7	8
Brian Leetch	6	1	3	4	0
Steven Rice	2	2	1	3	6
Corey Millen	6	1	2	3	0
Mark Janssens	6	3	0	3	6
Jan Erixon	6	1	2	3	0
Darren Turcotte	6	1	2	3	0
Joey Kocur	6	0	2	2	21
Tony Amonte	2	0	2	2	2
Joe Cirella	6	0	2	2	26
Randy Moller	6	0	2	2	11
Kris King	6	2	0	2	36
Brian Mullen	6	0	2	2	0
Mike Gartner	6	1	1	2	0
Mark Hardy	6	0	1	1	30
Doug Weight	1	0	0	0	0
Paul Broten	5	0	0	0	2
David Shaw	6	0	0	0	11
Troy Mallette	5	0	0	0	18
John Ogrodnick	4	0	0	0	0
James Patrick	6	0	0	0	6

Goaltenders

Regular Season
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO
Mike Richter	45	2596	21	13	7	135	3.12	1392	.903	0
John Vanbiesbrouck	40	2257	15	18	6	126	3.35	1154	.891	3

Playoffs
Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO
Mike Richter	6	313	2	4	14	2.69	182	.923	1
John Vanbiesbrouck	1	52	0	0	1	1.16	22	.955	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;

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1990 NHL Entry Draft in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada at the BC Place Stadium.^[7]^[8]

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
1	13	Michael Stewart	D	Canada	Michigan State University (NCAA)
2	34	Doug Weight	C	United States	Lake Superior State University (NCAA)
3	55	John Vary	D	Canada	North Bay Centennials (OHL)
4	69	Jeff Nielsen	RW	United States	Grand Rapids H.S. (Minnesota)
4	76	Rick Willis	LW	United States	Pingree H.S. (Massachusetts)
5	85	Sergei Zubov	D	Soviet Union	CSKA Moscow (USSR)
5	99	Lubos Rob	C	Czechoslovakia	HC Ceske Budejovice (Czechoslovakia)
6	118	Jason Weinrich	D	United States	Springfield Olympics (NEJHL)
7	139	Bryan Lonsinger	D	United States	Choate Academy (Connecticut)
8	160	Todd Hedlund	RW	United States	Roseau H.S. (Minnesota)
9	181	Andrew Silverman	D	United States	Beverly H.S. (Massachusetts)
10	202	Jon Hillebrandt	G	United States	Monona Grove H.S. (New York)
11	223	Brett Lievers	C	United States	Wayzata H.S. (Minnesota)
12	244	Sergei Nemchinov	C	Soviet Union	Krylja Sovetov (USSR)

Supplemental Draft

New York's picks at the 1990 NHL Supplemental Draft.^[9]

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	18	Mike Gilmore	G	United States	Michigan State University (CCHA)

References

^ "1990–91 New York Rangers Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved August 21, 2010.
^ "1990–91 NHL Season Summary". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved November 24, 2013.
^ Dinger, Ralph, ed. (2011). The National Hockey League Official Guide & Record Book 2012. Dan Diamond & Associates. p. 153. ISBN 9781894801225.
^ "1990–1991 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved June 30, 2014.
^ ^a ^b "1990–91 New York Rangers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
^ "1990–91 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 1, 2010.
^ "1990 NHL Entry Draft". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved June 23, 2012.
^ "NHL Draft History". National Hockey League. Archived from the original on January 28, 2001. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
^ "1990 NHL Supplemental Draft". hockeydb.com. Retrieved October 29, 2011.

[1] "1990–91 New York Rangers Roster and Statistics". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved August 21, 2010.

[2] "1990–91 NHL Season Summary". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved November 24, 2013.

[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] "1990–1991 Conference Standings". National Hockey League. Retrieved June 30, 2014.

[Gamelog-5] "1990–91 New York Rangers Schedule". Hockey-Reference.com. Retrieved March 30, 2025.

[6] "1990–91 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved August 1, 2010.

[7] "1990 NHL Entry Draft". Hockey-Reference. Retrieved June 23, 2012.

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

[9] "1990 NHL Supplemental Draft". hockeydb.com. Retrieved October 29, 2011.

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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 1990–91 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 All-Star Game Stanley Cup playoffs Stanley Cup Finals