New York Rangers Adam Graves scores two in 1994 win over Blackhawks
On January 16, 1994, the New York Rangers, led by Adam Graves and his two goals, beat the Blackhawks by a 5-1 score to win their 29th game of the year.
25 years ago was a very special time in the history of the New York Rangers. They broke the curse. Finally, they won a Stanley Cup for the first time since 1940. It was a jubilant time in this city. Manhattan was a buzz long after the season was over.
We are celebrating the 25th anniversary of that big win by looking back on various nights along the way to Mark Messier being called to center ice to get the Stanley Cup.
Tonight is a look back at 25 years ago tonight as the Rangers were in Chicago for an original six matchup with the Blackhawks.
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The Rangers had broken a three-game losing streak two nights earlier with a 5-2 over the Flyers at Madison Square Garden.
Captain Mark Messier got the scoreboard going at the 12:17 mark of the first period. He took a pass from Tony Amonte and put New York up 1-0.
Just under a minute later the Rangers went up 2-0 on a goal by Kevin Lowe and that is how the period ended.
Penalty killing was huge for New York on this night. The Blueshirts were able to kill off three in the first period and six overall.
That year the Rangers were quite good on the penalty kill, with an 84.6% percentage, good for third in the NHL.
Back to the game.
Ed Belfour held his own and the game remained 2-0 until the 14:25 mark, when Adam Graves scored his first of two on the night. This one was from Mike Gartner and Ed Olczyk to put the Rangers up 3-0 and in complete command the game.
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A Dirk Graham goal at the 16:01 point closed the gap to 3-1 before the second period came to a close.
In the third, Adam Graves put home his second and the route was on. Icing on the cake by Steve Larmer on an unassisted goal cemented the dominance for the night.
The final score was Rangers 5, Blackhawks 1.
New York raced their point total to 61 on the year. With Mike Keenan at the helm and captain Mark Messier leading the way, the Rangers notched another win along the way to that big night.
Rangers fans, what were some of your greatest memories of that season? Feel free to share them with me on social media or in the comments section at the bottom of this article.