Rangers-Penguins – 300 Games of History

The Rangers’ first game of the 2024-25 season is also the franchise’s 300^th all-time regular season game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Since the Penguins entered the NHL as part of the league’s expansion in 1967-68, the Rangers have only played one other franchise more often during the regular season (the Philadelphia Flyers, who also entered the NHL at the same time).

Some of the Blueshirts’ most memorable games have taken place against the Penguins. Here is a look at 50 notable contests through the Rangers’ first 300 regular season matchups against Pittsburgh:

• October 22, 1967 – In the first all-time meeting between the Rangers and Penguins, the Blueshirts earned a 6-4 win at MSG. Vic Hadfield tallied three points in the game for the Rangers, while Andy Bathgate scored a goal for the Penguins.
• December 2, 1967 – In the Rangers’ first road game against the Penguins in Pittsburgh, Rod Gilbert, Jean Ratelle, and Phil Goyette each tallied two points in a 4-1 victory.
• February 2, 1969 – Brad Park established a single-game Rangers rookie record with four assists as the Blueshirts earned a 7-3 win over the Penguins at MSG. The G-A-G line (Vic Hadfield, Jean Ratelle, Rod Gilbert) registered 11 points in the contest (Hadfield – one goal, three assists; Ratelle – two goals, two assists; Gilbert – one goal, two assists).
• February 1, 1970 – Terry Sawchuk earned his final career NHL win and final career NHL shutout, stopping all 29 shots he faced as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 6-0, at MSG.
• December 12, 1971 – Brad Park registered his first career NHL hat trick as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 6-1, at MSG.
• February 12, 1972 – Brad Park tallied his second hat trick of the 1971-72 season, and Walt Tkaczuk established a single-game franchise record by tallying five assists as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 8-3, in Pittsburgh.
• December 17, 1972 – The Rangers scored three goals in each period and defeated the Penguins, 9-1, at MSG.
• October 13, 1973 – Walt Tkaczuk tallied five points (one goal, four assists) as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 8-2, in Pittsburgh.
• November 18, 1973 – Four Rangers tallied three points and Ed Giacomin stopped all 33 shots he faced as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 7-0, at MSG.
• March 2, 1975 – Rod Gilbert tied a single-game franchise record by tallying five assists in a game against the Penguins at MSG.
• November 11, 1978 – Doug Soetaert made 46 saves as the Rangers defeated Pittsburgh, 2-1.
• October 21, 1979 – Phil Esposito became the second player in NHL history to record 1,500 career points in the league (along with Gordie Howe). The Rangers defeated the Penguins, 6-3, at MSG.
• March 24, 1982 – The Rangers scored three goals in the first 3:07 of the contest and defeated the Penguins, 7-2, in Pittsburgh. Don Maloney and Eddie Johnstone each tallied two goals and two assists.
• December 20, 1982 – The Rangers tallied a goal on each of their first three shots of the game, as Mark Pavelich, Mike Allison, and Rob McClanahan scored to help the Rangers defeat Pittsburgh, 6-3, at MSG.
• February 28, 1983 – Mike Rogers registered four points and four other players tallied three points as the Rangers defeated Pittsburgh, 9-3, at MSG.
• January 25, 1984 – Pierre Larouche registered a hat trick against his former team as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 6-3, in Pittsburgh. The hat trick gave Larouche 37 goals through the first 50 games of the 1983-84 season.
• March 14, 1987 – Tomas Sandstrom scored the game-winning goal in overtime as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 3-2, in Pittsburgh. The goal was Sandstrom’s third overtime goal of the 1986-87 season, establishing a single-season franchise record.
• October 30, 1988 – The Rangers and Penguins combined for 292 penalty minutes as the Blueshirts earned a 9-2 win at MSG. The 292 combined penalty minutes, as well as the Rangers’ 134 penalty minutes, are single-game franchise records. Tony Granato (four goals), Brian Leetch (two goals, two assists), and Kelly Kisio (one goal, three assists) each tallied four points in the contest.
• January 15, 1989 – Brian Leetch tallied a power play goal and a shorthanded goal, and the Rangers rallied from deficits of 3-0 and 4-1 to defeat the Penguins, 6-4, at MSG.
• January 3, 1991 – The Blueshirts registered six goals in the second period and defeated the Penguins, 7-5, in Pittsburgh.
• April 16, 1992 – Brian Leetch tallied four points (one goal, three assists), including his 100th point of the 1991-92 season, to become the fifth defenseman in NHL history (and first defenseman in Rangers history) to register at least 100 points in a season. The Rangers defeated the Penguins, 7-1, at MSG.
• November 25, 1992 – Mark Messier tied a single-game career-high with six points (two goals, four assists) and Adam Graves tied a single-period franchise record by tallying three goals in the third period as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 11-3.
• January 31, 1994 – Mike Gartner registered a hat trick, and Mark Messier tallied two points (one goal, one assist) to pass Alex Delvecchio for sole possession of 10th place on the NHL’s all-time points list with 1,282 as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 5-3, at MSG.
• April 18, 1995 – Brian Leetch tied a single-game franchise record with five assists and Mark Messier registered four assists in a game against the Penguins in Pittsburgh. All of Leetch’s five assists in the contest were primary assists.
• November 21, 1995 – Pat Verbeek registered five points (three goals, two assists) as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 9-4, at MSG.
• October 16, 1996 – Alexei Kovalev registered a hat trick as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 8-1, at MSG.
• January 25, 1997 – The Rangers earned their first all-time win while wearing their Liberty jersey during a nationally televised game in Pittsburgh, as they defeated the Penguins, 7-4. Mark Messier registered four points and Wayne Gretzky tallied three assists in the game.
• March 24, 1997 – In the final head-to-head game between Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, Gretzky tallied an empty-net goal and Mike Richter stopped all 34 shots he faced as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 3-0, at MSG.

• October 17, 1998 – Wayne Gretzky registered two points (one goal, one assist), including his 2,800th career NHL point, as the Rangers and Penguins played to a 3-3 tie.
• April 18, 1999 – Wayne Gretzky skated in his final NHL game and recorded his final NHL point with an assist on a Brian Leetch goal as the Rangers faced the Penguins at MSG.

• January 11, 2003 – Former Penguins Petr Nedved (two goals) and Matthew Barnaby (one goal) scored in the first period of the contest, as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 3-1, in Pittsburgh.
• February 14, 2003 – In his first game back at MSG after he was reacquired by the Rangers from the Penguins four days prior, Alexei Kovalev scored a power play goal in the third period as the Blueshirts defeated the Penguins, 1-0, at MSG.
• November 12, 2005 – Jaromir Jagr registered a hat trick against his former team as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 6-1, in Pittsburgh.
• January 28, 2006 – The Rangers defeated the Penguins, 7-1, at MSG and outshot the Penguins, 51-14. Jaromir Jagr (two goals, one assist) and Martin Rucinsky (one goal, two assists) each registered three points.
• April 13, 2006 – Jaromir Jagr registered his 54^th goal of the 2005-06 season, adding to the single-season franchise record that he still holds.
• November 25, 2006 – After Henrik Lundqvist made a penalty shot save in overtime, Martin Straka recorded the game-winning goal with 2.2 seconds remaining as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 2-1.
• March 19, 2007 – In the Rangers’ final game wearing their Liberty jersey, Jaromir Jagr scored the game-winning goal in the final minute of regulation as the Blueshirts defeated Pittsburgh, 2-1, at MSG.
• March 18, 2008 – Henrik Lundqvist earned his 100th career NHL win as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 5-2, at MSG.
• October 25, 2008 – Nikolai Zherdev scored the game-tying goal with 8.1 seconds remaining in regulation, helping the Rangers defeat the Penguins, 3-2, in a shootout at MSG. Henrik Lundqvist stopped all three of the Penguins’ shootout attempts.
• March 4, 2010 – Henrik Lundqvist made 50 saves to help the Rangers earn a point against the Penguins at MSG.
• November 15, 2010 – Despite allowing two goals late in the third period to surrender what had been a 1-0 lead, the Rangers tied the game when Marc Staal scored a shorthanded goal with 1:26 remaining in regulation and won the game on Ryan Callahan’s goal in overtime. Henrik Lundqvist made 37 saves in the Blueshirts’ 3-2 victory over the Penguins in Pittsburgh, and the Rangers won the game even though they did not have a power play opportunity in the contest.

• March 20, 2011 – The Rangers scored four answered goals in the third period – including two goals in a span of 11 seconds – to rally and defeat the Penguins, 5-2, in Pittsburgh.
• January 6, 2012 – Henrik Lundqvist made 37 saves as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 3-1, in Pittsburgh.

• April 3, 2013 – Derick Brassard (one goal, three assists), John Moore (one goal), and Ryane Clowe (two goals, one assist) each scored a goal in their Rangers debut, and the Blueshirts defeated the Penguins, 6-1, at MSG. Brassard and Moore had been acquired by the Rangers just hours before the start of the game, and Brassard’s four points tied a franchise record for points by a player in his debut with the Blueshirts.
• December 8, 2014 – After requiring stitches earlier in the game to reattach part of his ear, Kevin Klein scored the game-winning goal in overtime as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 4-3, at MSG. The victory marked the beginning of a stretch in which the Blueshirts won eight consecutive games and 13 out of 14.
• March 14, 2018 – Chris Kreider tallied a point on all four Rangers goals and Mika Zibanejad tallied two goals, including the game-winning goal in overtime, as the Rangers defeated Pittsburgh, 4-3, at MSG.

• November 12, 2019 – Kaapo Kakko tallied two goals, including the game-winning goal in overtime, as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 3-2, at MSG.
• March 25, 2022 – The Rangers scored three goals in the first 4:16 of the contest and defeated the Penguins, 5-1, at MSG.
• March 18, 2023 – The Blueshirts shut out Pittsburgh, 6-0, at MSG, behind 33 saves from Igor Shesterkin, three points from Mika Zibanejad, and two goals from Artemi Panarin.

• March 16, 2024 – Artemi Panarin registered five points, including his 90^th point of the 2023-24 season, as the Rangers defeated the Penguins, 7-4, in Pittsburgh. Panarin posted his fourth 90-point season as a Ranger, establishing a franchise record.