As the New York Rangers begin their 100th season in the league, they are looking to create more memorable moments. Here are the five best moments of the 2020s so far.
#5: Starting the Playoffs 7-0 After Winning the Presidents’ Trophy
The Rangers’ most successful season this decade was in 2023-24. The season before, they had been eliminated from the playoffs in Round 1 by the New Jersey Devils. They used that adversity and turned it into a 53-24-4 record and 114 points, good enough for the Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s best regular-season team. It was also the best regular season in franchise history.
In the first round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, they took on Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals, a team that had clawed its way into the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. The series wasn’t close, as the Rangers won four straight for the sweep and held Ovechkin to zero goals.
In the second round, they took a 2-0 series lead against the Carolina Hurricanes after a double-overtime winner from Vincent Trocheck. They followed it up with another overtime win in Game 3, for an overall 7-0 record in the playoffs. While they lost the next game, they won the series, 4-2, before losing to the Florida Panthers in the Eastern Conference Final.
#4: Stadium Series Comeback vs. New York Islanders
On Feb. 18, 2024, the Rangers and New York Islanders faced each other in the NHL Stadium Series. In front of almost 80,000 fans, this was one of the most entertaining outdoor games in NHL history. The Rangers opened the scoring before the Islanders scored three goals in 3:14 to take a 3-1 lead after the first period. They scored again to make it 4-1 to start the second, but the Rangers fought back to make it 4-3 to end the second.
Another Islanders goal to start the third period put the Rangers behind 5-3. However, with a power play less than five minutes to go in the game and Igor Shesterkin pulled for a five-on-three advantage, Chris Kreider cut the deficit to one. The Islanders then took another penalty, and Mika Zibanejad scored to tie the game.
It took just 10 seconds into overtime for Artemi Panarin to help the Rangers complete the comeback victory (after review). Despite trailing for much of the contest, they fought back in one of the best finishes to an outdoor game in recent memory.
#3: Zibanejad’s Five-Goal Game
The 2019-20 season was Zibanejad’s breakout campaign. Despite missing time due to injury, Zibanejad proved that he could be a top-line center in the NHL, with 41 goals and 75 points in 57 games, including a five-goal performance in March 2020 against the Capitals at Madison Square Garden (MSG).
The Rangers were fighting for their playoff lives at the time, and did end up making it, but were eliminated in the play-in round when the NHL returned to play from the COVID-19 pause in 2020. Zibanejad scored five of his team’s six goals, including the overtime winner on a breakaway.
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This was one of the most exciting regular-season games in franchise history. It was the breakout game that showed the rest of the league that Zibanejad had grown into an All-Star caliber player, and he became an offensive threat in the league for seasons to come.
#2: Kreider’s Third-Period Playoff Hat-Trick vs. Hurricanes
Kreider was one of the Rangers’ best playoff performers in franchise history. He holds the record for playoff goals with 48 and has had many memorable playoff moments in his career. But none was bigger than his third-period performance in Game 6 of the second round against the Hurricanes in the 2024 Playoffs.
After going up 3-0 in the series, the Rangers lost the next two games and were down in Game 6 heading into the third period, with Game 7 on the horizon. However, Kreider, in his greatest period of hockey as a Ranger, scored three straight goals to give the Rangers the lead and silence Hurricanes fans.
It was a Mark Messier-type performance that helped the Rangers punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference Final. While his tenure with the team didn’t end on the best note -he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks this offseason – Kreider will be remembered fondly for this moment and many others during his time in New York.
#1: Panarin’s Game 7 Overtime Winner vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
This moment capped off an incredible comeback for the Rangers in the first round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs against Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins on home ice. This was the team’s first postseason appearance since 2016-17, and after losing Game 1 in triple overtime, they won Game 2. They lost the next two and ended up down 3-1 in the series and 2-0 in Game 5. They fought back to win Games 5 and 6, to set the stage for Game 7 at MSG.
The Penguins were called for a penalty in overtime. With less than 15 seconds left on the man advantage, Adam Fox passed the puck to Panarin, who sniped it through a screen and into the back of the net. The goal sent MSG into a frenzy, and is best remembered by Sam Rosen’s iconic goal call, “Rangers, Rangers, Rangers win!”
The Rangers have been a very exciting team to watch over these past five seasons, and these five moments stand out among the rest. They have defined the team’s decade so far: successful and resilient. While they haven’t achieved the ultimate prize, they have still created some memorable moments fans will remember for years to come.
