1976–77 New York Rangers season

NHL hockey team season March 2026 August 2023 NHL 1976–77 1976 New York Rangers Campbell 5th Patrick 4th 29–37–14 17–18–5 12–19–9 272 310 John Ferguson John Ferguson Phil Esposito None Madison Square Garden Phil Esposito (34) Rod Gilbert (48) Phil Esposito (80) Nick Fotiu (174) John Davidson (14) Doug Soetaert (2.95) The 1976–77 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 51st season. The Rangers placed fourth in the Patrick Division and did not qualify for the playoffs for the second year in a row for the first time since the 1964–65 season and the 1965–66 season. The Rangers had a better regular season record than two playoff teams and the league would change the rules in the following season to place the top twelve teams in the playoffs, regardless of division. 2 Regular season Season standings NYR Record vs. opponents NYR Schedule and results background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#0161AB 5px solid; border-bottom:#E6393F 5px solid; 1976–77 regular season1976-77 New York Rangers Schedule https://www.hockey-reference.com/teams/NYR/1977_games.html Hockey-Reference.com March 31, 2025 y background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#0161AB 2px solid; border-bottom:#E6393F 2px solid; October: 5–7–1 (home: 2–5–0; road: 3–2–1) Game October Opponent Score Record |- | 1 || 6 || Minnesota North Stars || 6–5 || 1–0–0 |- | 2 || 8 || @ Colorado Rockies || 5–3 || 2–0–0 |- | 3 || 9 || @ St. Louis Blues || 2–1 || 2–1–0 |- | 4 || 12 || @ Minnesota North Stars || 10–4 || 3–1–0 |- | 5 || 13 || Boston Bruins || 5–1 || 3–2–0 |- | 6 || 16 || @ Montreal Canadiens || 7–4 || 3–3–0 |- | 7 || 17 || Colorado Rockies || 4–3 || 4–3–0 |- | 8 || 20 || Los Angeles Kings || 4–2 || 4–4–0 |- | 9 || 24 || Vancouver Canucks || 5–4 || 4–5–0 |- | 10 || 26 || @ Cleveland Barons || 5–2 || 5–5–0 |- | 11 || 27 || Boston Bruins || 4–3 || 5–6–0 |- | 12 || 30 || @ Pittsburgh Penguins || 2–2 || 5–6–1 |- | 13 || 31 || Detroit Red Wings || 6–5 || 5–7–1 |- y background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#0161AB 2px solid; border-bottom:#E6393F 2px solid; November: 5–4–3 (home: 2–3–0; road: 3–1–3) Game November Opponent Score Record |- | 14 || 3 || @ Vancouver Canucks || 6–1 || 6–7–1 |- | 15 || 6 || @ Los Angeles Kings || 3–3 || 6–7–2 |- | 16 || 10 || Washington Capitals || 7–5 || 6–8–2 |- | 17 || 13 || Buffalo Sabres || 6–2 || 6–9–2 |- | 18 || 14 || Pittsburgh Penguins || 5–1 || 6–10–2 |- | 19 || 17 || Chicago Black Hawks || 3–2 || 7–10–2 |- | 20 || 20 || @ St. Louis Blues || 3–1 || 7–11–2 |- | 21 || 22 || @ Vancouver Canucks || 3–2 || 8–11–2 |- | 22 || 24 || @ Philadelphia Flyers || 2–2 || 8–11–3 |- | 23 || 27 || @ Detroit Red Wings || 5–0 || 9–11–3 |- | 24 || 28 || Minnesota North Stars || 4–1 || 10–11–3 |- | 25 || 30 || @ Atlanta Flames || 2–2 || 10–11–4 |- y background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#0161AB 2px solid; border-bottom:#E6393F 2px solid; December: 5–4–6 (home: 3–2–3; road: 2–2–3) Game December Opponent Score Record |- | 26 || 1 || Washington Capitals || 4–1 || 11–11–4 |- | 27 || 4 || @ Minnesota North Stars || 11–4 || 12–11–4 |- | 28 || 5 || Toronto Maple Leafs || 5–5 || 12–11–5 |- | 29 || 8 || St. Louis Blues || 4–4 || 12–11–6 |- | 30 || 11 || @ Toronto Maple Leafs || 4–1 || 12–12–6 |- | 31 || 12 || Montreal Canadiens || 5–2 || 13–12–6 |- | 32 || 14 || @ New York Islanders || 4–4 || 13–12–7 |- | 33 || 16 || @ Buffalo Sabres || 7–2 || 13–13–7 |- | 34 || 18 || @ Chicago Black Hawks || 3–3 || 13–13–8 |- | 35 || 19 || Cleveland Barons || 3–2 || 14–13–8 |- | 36 || 22 || Philadelphia Flyers || 3–3 || 14–13–9 |- | 37 || 23 || @ Boston Bruins || 3–3 || 14–13–10 |- | 38 || 26 || New York Islanders || 2–1 || 14–14–10 |- | 39 || 28 || @ Washington Capitals || 5–2 || 15–14–10 |- | 40 || 31 || Atlanta Flames || 4–2 || 15–15–10 |- y background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#0161AB 2px solid; border-bottom:#E6393F 2px solid; January: 3–6–3 (home: 2–2–1; road: 1–4–2) Game January Opponent Score Record |- | 41 || 2 || Vancouver Canucks || 5–3 || 16–15–10 |- | 42 || 5 || Philadelphia Flyers || 4–4 || 16–15–11 |- | 43 || 7 || @ Colorado Rockies || 4–4 || 16–15–12 |- | 44 || 9 || Los Angeles Kings || 5–4 || 16–16–12 |- | 45 || 12 || @ Atlanta Flames || 6–1 || 16–17–12 |- | 46 || 13 || @ Buffalo Sabres || 7–5 || 16–18–12 |- | 47 || 16 || @ Chicago Black Hawks || 5–2 || 17–18–12 |- | 48 || 19 || @ Cleveland Barons || 3–3 || 17–18–13 |- | 49 || 22 || @ Los Angeles Kings || 6–0 || 17–19–13 |- | 50 || 23 || @ Vancouver Canucks || 6–2 || 17–20–13 |- | 51 || 27 || Pittsburgh Penguins || 3–0 || 17–21–13 |- | 52 || 30 || St. Louis Blues || 5–2 || 18–21–13 |- y background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#0161AB 2px solid; border-bottom:#E6393F 2px solid; February: 5–7–0 (home: 3–2–0; road: 2–5–0) Game February Opponent Score Record |- | 53 || 1 || @ Colorado Rockies || 5–2 || 18–22–13 |- | 54 || 3 || @ New York Islanders || 6–3 || 18–23–13 |- | 55 || 6 || New York Islanders || 4–0 || 19–23–13 |- | 56 || 9 || Buffalo Sabres || 2–1 || 19–24–13 |- | 57 || 10 || @ Detroit Red Wings || 5–4 || 20–24–13 |- | 58 || 13 || Toronto Maple Leafs || 8–3 || 21–24–13 |- | 59 || 17 || @ Philadelphia Flyers || 7–1 || 21–25–13 |- | 60 || 19 || @ New York Islanders || 5–2 || 21–26–13 |- | 61 || 20 || Detroit Red Wings || 3–2 || 22–26–13 |- | 62 || 23 || @ Toronto Maple Leafs || 5–4 || 23–26–13 |- | 63 || 26 || @ Chicago Black Hawks || 2–1 || 23–27–13 |- | 64 || 27 || Montreal Canadiens || 8–1 || 23–28–13 |- y background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#0161AB 2px solid; border-bottom:#E6393F 2px solid; March: 6–7–1 (home: 5–3–1; road: 1–4–0) Game March Opponent Score Record |- | 65 || 3 || Boston Bruins || 4–1 || 23–29–13 |- | 66 || 5 || @ Montreal Canadiens || 7–2 || 23–30–13 |- | 67 || 6 || Cleveland Barons || 4–3 || 24–30–13 |- | 68 || 9 || Minnesota North Stars || 6–4 || 25–30–13 |- | 69 || 10 || @ Boston Bruins || 10–3 || 25–31–13 |- | 70 || 12 || @ Atlanta Flames || 6–3 || 25–32–13 |- | 71 || 13 || Atlanta Flames || 5–3 || 25–33–13 |- | 72 || 16 || Philadelphia Flyers || 4–4 || 25–33–14 |- | 73 || 19 || @ Pittsburgh Penguins || 5–2 || 26–33–14 |- | 74 || 20 || St. Louis Blues || 5–3 || 27–33–14 |- | 75 || 23 || Colorado Rockies || 5–3 || 28–33–14 |- | 76 || 25 || @ Washington Capitals || 7–2 || 28–34–14 |- | 77 || 27 || Chicago Black Hawks || 5–3 || 28–35–14 |- | 78 || 30 || Atlanta Flames || 4–3 || 29–35–14 |- y background:#FFFFFF; border-top:#0161AB 2px solid; border-bottom:#E6393F 2px solid; April: 0–2–0 (home: 0–1–0; road: 0–1–0) Game April Opponent Score Record |- | 79 || 2 || @ Philadelphia Flyers || 4–1 || 29–36–14 |- | 80 || 3 || New York Islanders || 5–2 || 29–37–14 |- |- | Legend: #cfc Win (2 points) 1px solid black #fcc Loss (0 points) 1px solid black #ffc Tie (1 point) 1px solid black Player statistics Skaters Regular season Player GP Games played G Goals A Assists Pts Points PIM Penalty minutes Phil Esposito 80 34 46 80 52 Rod Gilbert 77 27 48 75 50 Ken Hodge 78 21 41 62 43 Don Murdoch 59 32 24 56 47 Steve Vickers Steve Vickers (ice hockey) 75 22 31 53 26 Walt Tkaczuk 80 12 38 50 38 Carol Vadnais 74 11 37 48 131 Ron Greschner 80 11 36 47 89 Wayne Dillon 78 17 29 46 33 Mike McEwen Mike McEwen (ice hockey) 80 14 29 43 38 Pat Hickey Pat Hickey (ice hockey) 80 23 17 40 35 Greg Polis 77 16 23 39 44 Bill Goldsworthy† 61 10 12 22 43 Dave Maloney 66 3 18 21 100 Dave Farrish 80 2 17 19 102 Dan Newman Dan Newman (ice hockey) 41 9 8 17 37 Pete Stemkowski 61 2 13 15 8 Nick Fotiu 70 4 8 12 174 Bill Fairbairn‡ 9 1 2 3 0 Mark Heaslip 19 1 0 1 31 Larry Huras 2 0 0 0 0 Larry Sacharuk 2 0 0 0 0 John Bednarski 5 0 0 0 0 Greg Holst 5 0 0 0 0 Nick Beverley‡ 9 0 0 0 2 Doug Jarrett 9 0 0 0 4 Goaltenders Regular season Player GP Games played TOI Time on ice W Win L Loss T Tie GA Goals against GAA Goals against average SO Shutouts Gilles Gratton 41 2034 11 18 7 143 4.22 0 John Davidson John Davidson (ice hockey) 39 2116 14 14 6 125 3.54 1 Doug Soetaert 12 570 3 4 1 28 2.95 1 Dave Tataryn 2 80 1 1 0 10 7.50 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. hockeydb.com 2010-08-08 1976–77 New York Rangers http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/leagues/seasons/teams/0000481977.html Draft picks New York's picks at the 1976 NHL amateur draft in Montreal, Canada. Round # Player Position Nationality College/Junior/Club team (League) 1 6 Don Murdoch RW Canada Medicine Hat Tigers (WCHL) 2 24 Dave Farrish D Canada Sudbury Wolves (OHA) 3 42 Mike McEwen D Canada Toronto Marlboros (OHA) 4 60 Claude Periard LW Canada Trois-Rivières Draveurs (QMJHL) 5 78 Doug Caines C Canada St. Catharines Black Hawks (OHA) 6 96 Barry Scully RW Canada Kingston Canadians (OHA) 7 112 Remi Levesque C Canada Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) References External links Rangers on Hockey Database 1976-77 Category:1976–77 NHL season by team Category:1976 in sports in New York City Category:1977 in sports in New York City 1976-77 New York Rangers season