1988–89 New York Rangers season

The 1988–89 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 63rd season. The team returned to the playoffs for the 11th time in 12 seasons. A major storyline of the season was Guy Lafleur's comeback from retirement.

1988–89 New York Rangers
Division	3rd Patrick
Conference	6th Wales
1988–89 record	37–35–8
Home record	21–17–2
Road record	16–18–6
Goals for	310
Goals against	307
Team information
General manager	Phil Esposito
Coach	Michel Bergeron Phil Esposito (interim)
Captain	Kelly Kisio
Arena	Madison Square Garden
Team leaders
Goals	Tony Granato (36)
Assists	Tomas Sandström (56)
Points	Tomas Sandstrom (88)
Penalty minutes	Rudy Poeschek (199)
Wins	John Vanbiesbrouck (28)
Goals against average	John Vanbiesbrouck (3.69)
← 1987–88 1989–90 →

Regular season

Guy Lafleur

After being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, Guy Lafleur returned to the NHL during the 1988–89 season with the New York Rangers. Lafleur remained one of the few players that did not wear protective helmets due to the Grandfather clause. A highlight of Lafleur's season was the opportunity to be on the same team with Marcel Dionne. During his first game back in the Montreal Forum, he scored twice against Patrick Roy during the Rangers' 7–5 loss to the Canadiens. Although his high-scoring days were well behind him, his stint with the Rangers was moderately successful and he helped the team to first place in the Patrick Division until being knocked out by a knee injury. The Rangers would finish the season in third place.

Season standings

Patrick Division

	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	Pts
Washington Capitals	80	41	29	10	305	259	92
Pittsburgh Penguins	80	40	33	7	347	349	87
New York Rangers	80	37	35	8	310	307	82
Philadelphia Flyers	80	36	36	8	307	285	80
New Jersey Devils	80	27	41	12	281	325	66
New York Islanders	80	28	47	5	265	325	61

^[1]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

Vs. Wales Conference

Vs. Patrick Division 1988–89 NHL records[2] Team NJD NYI NYR PHI PIT WSH Total New Jersey — 1–4–2 4–3 2–5 1–4–2 4–3 12–19–4 N.Y. Islanders 4–1–2 — 2–5 1–5–1 2–4–1 3–4 12–19–4 N.Y. Rangers 3–4 5–2 — 3–3–1 3–3–1 3–2–2 17–14–4 Philadelphia 5–2 5–1–1 3–3–1 — 3–4 3–4 19–14–2 Pittsburgh 4–1–2 4–2–1 3–3–1 4–3 — 4–3 19–12–4 Washington 3–4 4–3 2–3–2 4–3 3–4 — 16–17–2

Vs. Adams Division 1988–89 NHL records Team BOS BUF HFD MTL QUE Total New Jersey 0–2–1 1–2 1–2 0–3 1–2 3–11–1 N.Y. Islanders 1–2 0–3 1–2 2–1 2–1 6–9–0 N.Y. Rangers 0–1–2 0–3 1–2 0–3 2–1 3–10–2 Philadelphia 1–2 2–1 1–1–1 0–1–2 2–1 6–6–3 Pittsburgh 1–1–1 1–2 1–2 1–2 1–2 5–9–1 Washington 1–1–1 3–0 3–0 1–1–1 2–0–1 10–2–3

Vs. Campbell Conference

Vs. Norris Division 1988–89 NHL records Team CHI DET MIN STL TOR Total New Jersey 2–1 2–0–1 1–1–1 2–1 2–1 9–4–2 N.Y. Islanders 0–3 0–3 2–1 1–2 1–2 4–11–0 N.Y. Rangers 2–0–1 0–3 2–1 3–0 1–1–1 8–5–2 Philadelphia 3–0 1–2 2–1 0–3 2–1 8–7–0 Pittsburgh 3–0 2–0–1 1–2 1–1–1 2–1 9–4–2 Washington 2–1 1–1–1 1–1–1 2–0–1 2–1 8–4–3

Vs. Smythe Division 1988–89 NHL records Team CGY EDM LAK VAN WIN Total New Jersey 0–3 2–1 0–1–2 1–1–1 0–1–2 3–7–5 N.Y. Islanders 0–2–1 1–2 1–2 2–1 2–1 6–8–1 N.Y. Rangers 1–2 1–2 2–1 3–0 2–1 9–6–0 Philadelphia 0–3 0–1–2 1–2 0–3 2–0–1 3–9–3 Pittsburgh 1–2 1–2 1–2 2–1 2–1 7–8–0 Washington 0–2–1 2–1 1–1–1 2–1 2–1 7–6–2

Schedule and results

1988–89 regular season[3]
October: 8–2–1 (home: 5–2–0; road: 3–0–1) Game October Opponent Score Record 1 6 @ Chicago Blackhawks 2 – 2 OT 0–0–1 2 8 @ St. Louis Blues 4 – 2 1–0–1 3 10 New Jersey Devils 5 – 0 1–1–1 4 12 Hartford Whalers 4 – 3 1–2–1 5 16 Vancouver Canucks 3 – 2 2–2–1 6 19 Washington Capitals 5 – 1 3–2–1 7 21 @ Washington Capitals 4 – 1 4–2–1 8 23 Quebec Nordiques 8 – 2 5–2–1 9 26 Philadelphia Flyers 4 – 3 6–2–1 10 29 @ Philadelphia Flyers 6 – 5 7–2–1 11 30 Pittsburgh Penguins 9 – 2 8–2–1
November: 6–6–2 (home: 2–2–1; road: 4–4–1) Game November Opponent Score Record 12 2 @ Buffalo Sabres 6 – 4 8–3–1 13 6 @ New Jersey Devils 6 – 5 8–4–1 14 8 @ New York Islanders 4 – 3 8–5–1 15 9 Philadelphia Flyers 5 – 3 9–5–1 16 11 Boston Bruins 4 – 4 OT 9–5–2 17 13 Detroit Red Wings 5 – 3 9–6–2 18 15 @ Philadelphia Flyers 3 – 3 OT 9–6–3 19 17 @ Los Angeles Kings 6 – 5 10–6–3 20 19 @ Minnesota North Stars 4 – 1 11–6–3 21 21 Montreal Canadiens 4 – 2 11–7–3 22 23 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 8 – 2 11–8–3 23 26 @ New York Islanders 6 – 4 12–8–3 24 27 New York Islanders 5 – 3 13–8–3 25 29 @ Winnipeg Jets 4 – 3 14–8–3
December: 6–6–2 (home: 4–2–0; road: 2–4–2) Game December Opponent Score Record 26 1 @ Calgary Flames 6 – 3 14–9–3 27 4 @ Edmonton Oilers 10 – 6 14–10–3 28 6 @ Vancouver Canucks 5 – 3 15–10–3 29 8 @ Hartford Whalers 5 – 4 15–11–3 30 10 @ Boston Bruins 1 – 1 OT 15–11–4 31 12 Los Angeles Kings 5 – 2 15–12–4 32 14 New York Islanders 2 – 1 16–12–4 33 17 @ Montreal Canadiens 6 – 3 16–13–4 34 19 Washington Capitals 3 – 1 17–13–4 35 21 Buffalo Sabres 5 – 2 17–14–4 36 23 @ Washington Capitals 2 – 2 OT 17–14–5 37 26 New Jersey Devils 5 – 1 18–14–5 38 27 @ New Jersey Devils 7 – 5 19–14–5 39 31 Chicago Blackhawks 4 – 1 20–14–5
January: 8–2–3 (home: 3–1–1; road: 5–1–2) Game January Opponent Score Record 40 2 Hartford Whalers 5 – 4 21–14–5 41 4 Washington Capitals 3 – 3 OT 21–14–6 42 7 @ New York Islanders 5 – 1 22–14–6 43 9 New Jersey Devils 5 – 4 22–15–6 44 14 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 4 – 4 OT 22–15–7 45 15 Pittsburgh Penguins 6 – 4 23–15–7 46 18 @ Chicago Blackhawks 6 – 4 24–15–7 47 19 @ St. Louis Blues 5 – 0 25–15–7 48 21 @ Vancouver Canucks 5 – 4 OT 26–15–7 49 23 @ Edmonton Oilers 3 – 2 27–15–7 50 26 @ Calgary Flames 5 – 3 27–16–7 51 28 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 1 – 1 OT 27–16–8 52 30 New York Islanders 7 – 3 28–16–8
February: 5–7–0 (home: 3–5–0; road: 2–2–0) Game February Opponent Score Record 53 1 Washington Capitals 4 – 3 OT 28–17–8 54 4 @ Montreal Canadiens 7 – 5 28–18–8 55 5 Minnesota North Stars 5 – 3 28–19–8 56 9 Winnipeg Jets 4 – 3 29–19–8 57 12 Edmonton Oilers 3 – 1 29–20–8 58 14 @ Philadelphia Flyers 3 – 1 29–21–8 59 17 Toronto Maple Leafs 10 – 6 29–22–8 60 18 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 5 – 3 30–22–8 61 20 New Jersey Devils 7 – 4 31–22–8 62 22 Philadelphia Flyers 6 – 4 31–23–8 63 25 @ Quebec Nordiques 7 – 2 32–23–8 64 27 Los Angeles Kings 6 – 4 33–23–8
March: 4–10–0 (home: 4–4–0; road: 0–6–0) Game March Opponent Score Record 65 1 Toronto Maple Leafs 7 – 4 34–23–8 66 3 @ New Jersey Devils 6 – 3 34–24–8 67 5 Boston Bruins 5 – 0 34–25–8 68 8 Buffalo Sabres 2 – 0 34–26–8 69 9 @ Detroit Red Wings 3 – 2 34–27–8 70 11 @ Washington Capitals 4 – 2 34–28–8 71 13 Calgary Flames 4 – 3 35–28–8 72 15 Winnipeg Jets 6 – 3 35–29–8 73 18 @ Quebec Nordiques 8 – 3 35–30–8 74 20 St. Louis Blues 7 – 4 36–30–8 75 22 Minnesota North Stars 3 – 1 37–30–8 76 25 @ Philadelphia Flyers 6 – 1 37–31–8 77 26 Pittsburgh Penguins 6 – 4 37–32–8 78 29 @ Detroit Red Wings 4 – 3 37–33–8
April: 0–2–0 (home: 0–1–0; road: 0–1–0) Game April Opponent Score Record 79 1 @ Pittsburgh Penguins 5 – 2 37–34–8 80 2 New York Islanders 6 – 4 37–35–8
Legend:   Win (2 points)   Loss (0 points)   Tie (1 point)

Playoffs

Main article: 1989 Stanley Cup playoffs

1989 Stanley Cup playoffs[3]
Division semifinals vs. (P2) Pittsburgh Penguins – Pittsburgh wins 4–0 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Series 1 April 5 New York Rangers 1 – 3 Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh leads series 1-0 2 April 6 New York Rangers 4 – 7 Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh leads series 2-0 3 April 8 Pittsburgh Penguins 5 – 4 New York Rangers OT Pittsburgh leads series 3-0 4 April 9 Pittsburgh Penguins 4 – 3 New York Rangers Pittsburgh wins series 4-0
Legend:   Win   Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular Season Player GP G A Pts +/- PIM Tomas Sandstrom 79 32 56 88 5 148 Brian Leetch 68 23 48 71 8 50 Brian Mullen 78 29 35 64 7 60 Tony Granato 78 36 27 63 17 140 Kelly Kisio 70 26 36 62 14 91 Carey Wilson† 41 21 34 55 1 45 James Patrick 68 11 36 47 3 41 Guy Lafleur 67 18 27 45 1 12 Ulf Dahlen 56 24 19 43 -6 50 John Ogrodnick 60 13 29 42 0 14 Lucien DeBlois 73 9 24 33 -6 107 Michel Petit 69 8 25 33 -15 154 Jason Lafreniere 38 8 16 24 -3 6 Marcel Dionne 37 7 16 23 -6 20 Brian Lawton‡ 30 7 10 17 -2 39 David Shaw 63 6 11 17 14 88 Jan Erixon 44 4 11 15 -3 27 Chris Nilan 38 7 7 14 -8 177 Mark Hardy† 45 2 12 14 -8 45 Don Maloney‡ 31 4 9 13 2 16 Ron Greschner 58 1 10 11 9 94 Darren Turcotte 20 7 3 10 0 4 Norm Maciver‡ 26 0 10 10 -3 14 Kevin Miller 24 3 5 8 -1 2 Igor Liba‡ 10 2 5 7 1 15 Normand Rochefort 11 1 5 6 0 18 Lindy Ruff† 13 0 5 5 -6 31 Rudy Poeschek 52 0 2 2 -8 199 Doug Wickenheiser‡ 1 1 0 1 1 0 Simon Wheeldon 6 0 1 1 -1 2 Miloslav Horava 6 0 1 1 -2 0 Dean Kennedy‡ 16 0 1 1 -1 40 Joe Paterson 20 0 1 1 -3 84 Stephane Brochu 1 0 0 0 1 0 Paul Cyr 1 0 0 0 0 2 James Latos 1 0 0 0 -1 0 Jayson More 1 0 0 0 -1 0 Ken Hammond†‡ 3 0 0 0 -3 0 Mark Janssens 5 0 0 0 -4 0 Jeff Bloemberg 9 0 0 0 2 0 Peter Laviolette 12 0 0 0 2 6

Playoffs Player GP G A Pts PIM Brian Leetch 4 3 2 5 2 Tomas Sandstrom 4 3 2 5 12 Carey Wilson 4 1 2 3 2 David Shaw 4 0 2 2 30 Michel Petit 4 0 2 2 27 John Ogrodnick 3 2 0 2 0 Tony Granato 4 1 1 2 21 Ron Greschner 4 0 1 1 6 Mark Hardy 4 0 1 1 31 Chris Nilan 4 0 1 1 28 Jan Erixon 4 0 1 1 2 Guy Lafleur 4 1 0 1 0 James Patrick 4 0 1 1 2 Brian Mullen 3 0 1 1 4 Lindy Ruff 2 0 0 0 17 Darren Turcotte 1 0 0 0 0 Jason Lafreniere 3 0 0 0 17 Lucien DeBlois 4 0 0 0 4 Ulf Dahlen 4 0 0 0 0 Kelly Kisio 4 0 0 0 9

Goaltenders

Regular Season

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	T	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO
John Vanbiesbrouck	56	3207	28	21	4	197	3.69	1662	.881	0
Bob Froese	30	1621	9	14	4	102	3.78	787	.870	1

Playoffs

Player	GP	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO
John Vanbiesbrouck	2	107	0	1	6	3.36	55	.891	0
Bob Froese	2	72	0	2	8	6.67	51	.843	0
Mike Richter	1	58	0	1	4	4.14	30	.867	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.

^[4]

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

• Brian Leetch, Calder Memorial Trophy
• Brian Leetch, Most Goals by a Rookie Defenseman in One Season (23)^[5]
• Most goals by rookie, season – Tony Granato (1988–89) – 36

Draft picks

New York's picks at the 1988 NHL entry draft in Montreal, Canada at the Montreal Forum.

Round	#	Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	22	Troy Mallette	LW	Canada	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
2	26	Murray Duval	D	Canada	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
4	68	Tony Amonte	RW	United States	Thayer Academy (Massachusetts)
5	99	Martin Bergeron	C	Canada	Drummondville Voltigeurs (QMJHL)
6	110	Dennis Vial	D	Canada	Hamilton Steelhawks (OHL)
7	131	Mike Rosati	G	Canada	Hamilton Steelhawks (OHL)
8	152	Eric Couvrette	LW	Canada	Saint-Jean Castors (QMJHL)
10	194	Paul Cain	C	Canada	Cornwall Royals (OHL)
10	202	Eric Fenton	RW	United States	N. Yarmouth Academy (Maine)
11	215	Peter Fiorentino	D	Canada	Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL)
12	236	Keith Slifstein	RW	United States	Choate Academy (Connecticut)

Supplemental Draft

New York's picks at the 1988 NHL supplemental draft.

Player	Position	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
Mike Hurlbut	D	United States	St. Lawrence University (ECAC)
Ron Lecinskas	LW	United States	Salem State College (NCAA)