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For the New York Rangers, the games on January 23rd in 1934 and 1944 could not have gone much differently. In the former, they celebrated “Iron Man” Murray Murdoch with a 5-2 victory at Madison Square Garden. Ten years later, they were the victims of the most lopsided defeat in NHL history when they lost 15-0 at Detroit’s Olympia Stadium. The high scoring gave Syd Howe the Red Wings’ record for most career goals (149).

1934

The 1933-34 season was an exciting time to be playing or cheering for the Rangers. They had just won the 1933 Stanley Cup Final, and on January 23rd, they played their 400th game as a franchise. 13,000 gathered at Madison Square Garden to witness the celebratory ceremony held during the first and second periods of the game. Col. John Kilpatrick (president of the Garden Corporation) and Coach Lester Patrick brought the players out to center rink. Bill Cook, captain for eight seasons, received a warm round of applause.

Cook would receive more cheering as the game went on. In the third period, he scored back-to-back power play goals. According to the New York Daily News recap, Cecil “Dillon flipped the rubber to Frank Boucher, who was standing not far from the side of the Senators’ coop. Frank wasted no time slipping the rubber to Bill Cook, who suddenly swept up in front of the webbing and tallied in 6:07. That maneuver worked so successfully that just sixteen seconds later the Rangers tried it again.” Boucher had already scored the first goal of the game, and Dillon had already assisted on the Rangers’ second goal. Cook proceeded to assist Boucher on the last goal in the final three minutes. Thanks primarily to these three, the Rangers beat the Ottawa Senators 5-2.

Despite having earned a two-minute penalty and zero points, the real star of the game was left wing Murray Murdoch. As the Daily News phrased it, “Especially honored was Murray Murdoch, who hasn’t missed taking part in a single one of those 400 arguments, the lad being so durable and punctual that he has established a record for attendance.” In recognition of this achievement, during the ceremony, he was presented with a ring by no less than baseball’s “Iron Horse,” Lou Gehrig. Like Murdoch, Gehrig spent his entire career in New York, and at that point, he had accumulated 1,307 of his 2,130 consecutive games. Upon accepting the ring, Murdoch took the microphone to praise Gehrig in return.

Murdoch would remain with the Rangers until 1937. He never missed a game, so he finished his career with a streak of 508 (84G, 104A, 188P). In the all-time list of most consecutive games, he ranks 27th. He turned to coaching, and again, he stuck with one team, Yale University’s, until his career ended in 1965.

1944

By 1944, the Rangers were in the midst of a slump. They had last made the playoffs in 1942 and wouldn’t again until 1948. Although they had won their previous two games, the New Yorkers became casualties in a massacre when they faced the Stanley Cup champions before a Detroit crowd of 12,293. The home team broke their own record by defeating the Rangers 15-0. Two years earlier, the Red Wings had shut out the Canadiens 10-0.

In looking for reasons for the lopsided score, some have pointed to the lack in good players due to World War II. The few penalties proved that it wasn’t due to the Rangers being short-handed. Goalie Ken McAuley could not even take the full blame because he made 43 saves, twice the average. One thing that did seem to have the opposite intended results was that Rangers coach Frank Boucher “repeatedly sent down five-man rushes in an effort to avert a shutout – but that just set the stage for Wing breakaways.” However, rookie Connie Dion only had to make nine saves for his first shutout.

Apparently, the Rangers’ only real shot at scoring came in the first minute of the game. According to the Detroit Free Press, “Bryan Hextall took a pass from Kilby MacDonald and whipped a shot which appeared to be in the net. However, Goal Judge John Miller did not flash on the light. Referee Norm Lamport said he did not see the puck until it was on the goal line and Miller insisted, contrary to all New York protestations, that Hextall’s shot did not pass the line.”

The goal judge at the other end had no trouble lighting the lamp. As the Associated Press put it, “Making the famed assembly-line technique of the Motor City pale by comparison, Detroit’s Red Wings went into mass production of goals here tonight … The Wings got hotter with each succeeding period, clicking twice in the first, five times in the next and eight times in the final session.” They nearly added a 16th goal, but it landed in the net just after the clock ran out.

All but two of the Red Wings (defenseman Cully Simon and goalie Dion) contributed to the scoring. Four players tallied up five points apiece: Murray Armstrong (2G, 3A), Don Grosso (2G, 3A), Joe Carveth (5A), and especially Syd Howe (3G, 2A). Howe had the only hat trick, all scored in the third period. He earned himself Detroit’s all-time goal-production record with 149 goals in 10 seasons (beating Herbie Lewis’s record of 148 in 11). Soon thereafter, on February 3rd, Howe again had a great night against the Rangers when he scored six goals. Only Joe Malone had ever scored more in a game, when he had seven goals on January 31, 1920. Since 1944, only two players have matched the six goals in a single game.

The beleaguered Rangers failed to win a single game the rest of the season. After their 21-game winless streak, they ended the season with a record of 6-39-5. This remains the seventh-lowest season in percentage at .170. 

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