1939–40 New York Rangers season

The 1939–40 New York Rangers season was the franchise's 14th season. With new coach Frank Boucher the Rangers finish in 2nd place again with an impressive 27–11–10 record. In the semi-finals the Rangers beat the Boston Bruins in 6 games to advance to the 1940 Stanley Cup Finals. In the finals the Rangers won their first 2 games by scores of 2–1 and 6–2 at the Garden, before finishing the series on the road because of the circus. After dropping the first 2 games in Toronto the Rangers won a critical Game five 2–1 in overtime on Muzz Patrick's overtime goal. In Game 6 it would take overtime again as the Rangers won their 3rd Stanley Cup on Bryan Hextall's goal 2:33 into OT. Following the season the Rangers would celebrate buying out their lease at Madison Square Garden by burning the lease in the historic Stanley Cup, a move that would take on greater mystery in coming years.

1939–40 New York Rangers
Stanley Cup champions
Division2nd NHL
1939–40 record27–11–10
Goals for136
Goals against77
Team information
General managerLester Patrick
CoachFrank Boucher
CaptainArt Coulter
ArenaMadison Square Garden
Team leaders
GoalsBryan Hextall (24)
AssistsPhil Watson (28)
PointsBryan Hextall (39)
Penalty minutesArt Coulter (68)
WinsDave Kerr (27)
Goals against averageDave Kerr (1.54)

Regular season

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Season standings

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National Hockey League
GP W L T GF GA PIM Pts
Boston Bruins 48 31 12 5 170 98 330 67
New York Rangers 48 27 11 10 136 77 520 64
Toronto Maple Leafs 48 25 17 6 134 110 485 56
Chicago Black Hawks 48 23 19 6 112 120 351 52
Detroit Red Wings 48 16 26 6 90 126 250 38
New York Americans 48 15 29 4 106 140 236 34
Montreal Canadiens 48 10 33 5 90 167 338 25

[1]

Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, GF = Goals For, GA = Goals Against, PIM = Penalty Minutes, Pts = Points
       Teams that qualified for the playoffs are highlighted in bold.

Record vs. opponents

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1939–40 NHL Records [2]
Team BOS CHI DET MTL NYA NYR TOR
Boston 6–1–1 5–3 6–1–1 7–1 2–4–2 5–2–1
Chicago 1–6–1 6–0–2 5–2–1 3–4–1 4–4 4–3–1
Detroit 3–5 0–6–2 5–3 5–3 2–3–2 1–6–1
Montreal 1–6–1 2–5–1 3–5 2–4–2 1–6–1 1–7
N.Y. Americans 1–7 4–3–1 3–5 4–2–2 1–6–1 2–6
N.Y. Rangers 4–2–2 4–4 3–2–2 6–1–1 6–1–1 4–1–3
Toronto 2–5–1 3–4–1 6–1–1 7–1 6–2 1–4–3


Schedule and results

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1939–40 Game Log
November: 3–3–4 (Home: 1–3–0; Road: 2–0–4)
Game November Opponent Score Record
1 5 @ Detroit Red Wings 1 – 1 OT 0–0–1
2 11 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 1 – 1 OT 0–0–2
3 12 Toronto Maple Leafs 1–0 0–1–2
4 16 Chicago Black Hawks 3–2 0–2–2
5 18 @ New York Americans 3–1 1–2–2
6 19 Montreal Canadiens 2 – 1 OT 1–3–2
7 23 @ Montreal Canadiens 1 – 1 OT 1–3–3
8 26 @ Boston Bruins 2 – 2 OT 1–3–4
9 28 Detroit Red Wings 4–1 2–3–4
10 30 @ Chicago Black Hawks 7–2 3–3–4
December: 7–0–3 (Home: 6–0–2; Road: 1–0–1)
Game December Opponent Score Record
11 2 New York Americans 1 – 1 OT 3–3–5
12 10 Boston Bruins 3–2 4–3–5
13 14 Detroit Red Wings 2 – 2 OT 4–3–6
14 16 @ Montreal Canadiens 4–2 5–3–6
15 17 @ Detroit Red Wings 0 – 0 OT 5–3–7
16 19 Montreal Canadiens 5–2 6–3–7
17 23 Chicago Black Hawks 7–1 7–3–7
18 25 Toronto Maple Leafs 4–1 8–3–7
19 29 Boston Bruins 4–0 9–3–7
20 31 New York Americans 5–2 10–3–7
January: 10–1–0 (Home: 5–0–0; Road: 5–1–0)
Game January Opponent Score Record
21 2 @ Boston Bruins 6–4 11–3–7
22 4 @ New York Americans 6–2 12–3–7
23 7 Detroit Red Wings 3–0 13–3–7
24 11 Chicago Black Hawks 5–3 14–3–7
25 13 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4–1 15–3–7
26 14 @ Chicago Black Hawks 2–1 15–4–7
27 18 @ Montreal Canadiens 1–0 16–4–7
28 21 Boston Bruins 4–2 17–4–7
29 23 @ New York Americans 5–3 18–4–7
30 25 Toronto Maple Leafs 3–0 19–4–7
31 28 New York Americans 4–2 20–4–7
February: 5–5–1 (Home: 4–1–0; Road: 1–4–1)
Game February Opponent Score Record
32 1 @ Detroit Red Wings 2–0 20–5–7
33 4 Montreal Canadiens 9–0 21–5–7
34 6 @ Boston Bruins 6–2 21–6–7
35 8 Toronto Maple Leafs 2–1 22–6–7
36 10 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 4 – 4 OT 22–6–8
37 11 @ Chicago Black Hawks 3–0 22–7–8
38 15 Detroit Red Wings 3–1 23–7–8
39 18 @ Detroit Red Wings 2–0 23–8–8
40 22 @ New York Americans 1 – 0 OT 23–9–8
41 24 @ Montreal Canadiens 2–0 24–9–8
42 25 Montreal Canadiens 6–2 25–9–8
43 29 Chicago Black Hawks 2–1 25–10–8
March: 2–1–2 (Home: 1–0–1; Road: 1–1–1)
Game March Opponent Score Record
44 2 @ Toronto Maple Leafs 1 – 1 OT 25–10–9
45 3 @ Chicago Black Hawks 2–1 26–10–9
46 10 New York Americans 4–2 27–10–9
47 12 @ Boston Bruins 2–1 27–11–9
48 14 Boston Bruins 0 – 0 OT 27–11–10

Playoffs

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Stanley Cup Finals

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The final series between the Rangers and the Maple Leafs was an exciting one that went back and forth with three overtime games. The Rangers took the first two at home and the Leafs took the next two in Toronto. The circus forced the Rangers to vacate Madison Square Garden after the first two games. The Rangers would score three game-winning goals in overtime, including the Cup winner. Lynn and Murray Patrick played for the Rangers, and became the third and fourth members of the Patrick family to win the Stanley Cup. Bryan Hextall scored in overtime in the final game to give the Rangers their 3rd Stanley Cup and last until 1994.

Key:   Win   Loss

1940 Stanley Cup playoffs

Player statistics

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Skaters
Goaltenders
Regular Season
Player GP TOI W L T GA GAA SO
Dave Kerr 48 3000 27 11 10 77 1.54 8
Playoffs
Player GP TOI W L GA GAA SO
Dave Kerr 12 770 8 4 20 1.56 3

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.

[3]

Note:
Pos = Position; GPI = Games played in; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; PIM = Penalty minutes; +/- = Plus/minus; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
Min, TOI = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T,T/OT = Ties; OTL = Overtime losses; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage;

Awards and records

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References

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  1. ^ Standings: NHL Public Relations Department (2008). Dave McCarthy; et al. (eds.). THE NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE Official Guide & Record Book/2009. National Hockey League. p. 147. ISBN 978-1-894801-14-0.
  2. ^ "All-Time NHL Results". NHL.com. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  3. ^ "1939–40 New York Rangers". hockeydb.com. Retrieved October 23, 2010.
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