Mike Richter’s legendary Rangers career was filled with unforgettable moments and records. The penalty shot save on Pavel Bure in the 1994 Stanley Cup Final to ultimately help the Rangers win the Cup, the dominant goaltending display in the 1997 playoffs to help the Blueshirts advance to the Eastern Conference Final, and breaking Eddie Giacomin’s franchise wins record during the 2000-01 season are just a few of the highlights that ultimately led to Richter’s No. 35 jersey being retired by the Rangers in 2004.
Another record-setting achievement in Richter’s career occurred 35 years ago – January 31, 1991 – when No. 35 set the franchise’s single-game saves record. It was part of an outstanding season for Richter and the Rangers, and one that is remembered for the unique goaltending rotation that the team utilized that year.
Richter had made his NHL debut in Game 4 of the 1989 Patrick Division Semifinals and then played 23 regular season games and six playoff contests during the 1989-90 season. John Vanbiesbrouck had been the Blueshirts’ starting goaltender when Richter arrived in New York and was considered one of the best netminders in the league. At the start of the 1990-91 season, Rangers head coach Roger Neilson alternated Richter – who was still a rookie by NHL standards that year – and Vanbiesbrouck for each of the first 76 games of the campaign.
“What made my relationship so special with John was John,” Richter said recently when recalling the game and the partnership he had with Vanbiesbrouck. “I was happy to be anywhere, and he was probably thinking of me as a guy who was coming to take his spot. But, John was a real professional about it, and I think we worked well together. In the beginning, he was certainly the guy that I was learning from, and then you start to age into the position and take that responsibility and truly become a peer.
“That year, when we rotated through the first 76 games, it wasn’t necessarily by design, but it was just working. Everything you do as an athlete is about trying to give yourself the most success, and that year, both of us were playing well and deserved to play.”
The Rangers’ 54th game – and Richter’s 27th start – of the 1990-91 season was on January 31, 1991, against the Vancouver Canucks in Vancouver. It was the second game of a back-to-back set for the Blueshirts, as well as the final contest of a four-game road trip that started against the Islanders and culminated in western Canada.
As the game unfolded, the Rangers appeared to be showing the effects of the end of a long road trip. But Richter kept the Blueshirts in the contest.
“I always loved playing in Vancouver,” said Richter, who played eight regular season games on the road against the Canucks, as well as three during the 1994 Stanley Cup Final. “It was such a well-lit rink and the fans were right on you. It was always a fun game to play.”
Richter made 17 saves in the first period and then 14 more in the second period, helping the Rangers take a 2-1 lead into the third period. Over the final 20 minutes of regulation, the Canucks pushed to tie the game and created numerous scoring chances. Richter made 26 saves on 28 shots in the third period alone, several of which were on point-blank opportunities that Vancouver had from in front of the net.
John Davidson – who was one of the broadcasters for the game on MSG Network and a terrific goaltender for the Rangers in his own right – said during the telecast that, “The first star should be Richter, the second star should be Richter, and the third star should be Richter. This guy has been unbelievable.”
“Maybe the takeaway from that game for me is rebound control,” the quick-witted Richter said years later. “You have to be on your game as much as possible and sometimes it’s easier to get into a rhythm when there is a lot of volume (of shots) coming at you, and that was certainly the case that night. You can’t predict how many shots are going to come your way.”
Richter made two more saves during the five-minute overtime period to preserve a 3-3 tie for the Rangers and help the team earn a point to close out the road trip. It was a 59-save effort that remains in the Blueshirts’ record book 35 years later, one of several that No. 35 holds.
“I haven’t seen every hockey game over the last 100 years,” Rangers defenseman Mark Hardy said to the media after the game that night, “but I have played 12 years in this league and that’s the best goaltending performance I ever witnessed.”
Thanks in part to his 59-save performance in Vancouver, Richter finished the 1990-91 season with a 21-13-7 record in 45 appearances, and his .903 save percentage was the third-best in the league, only behind Chicago’s Ed Belfour and Montreal’s Patrick Roy. Richter was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender in 1990-91, as he took another step on his path to becoming a legendary goaltender in both Rangers history and hockey history.
