9 Goals: The New York Rangers' Once-in-a-lifetime Miracle Finish

After leading the entire National Hockey League for 3 1/2 exciting months, the 1969-70 New York Rangers of coach and general manager Emile Francis were faced with potential disaster entering the final day of the regular season at Madison Square Garden. In fifth place, trailing the legendary Montreal Canadiens --the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions-- by two points for the fourth and final playoff berth in the East Division, the mountain the Rangers had to climb seemingly required a hockey miracle. Facing the Detroit Red Wings who just 18 hours earlier had thrashed them, 6-2, and clinched a playoff berth of their own, the Rangers not only had to win the game . . . they would have to score a minimum of FIVE goals in order to tie Montreal with 92 points -- and more importantly, in Goals Scored for the season. Montreal could scuttle all that with a win or tie that night against the Chicago Black Hawks at Chicago Stadium. They would finish in fourth place and eliminate the Rangers. Should Montreal lose, however, they could still finish in fourth place by scoring more goals for the season than the Rangers. In a game for the ages that included 11 participants now enshrined in the Hockey Hall of Fame, at 2:05 p.m., on April 5, 1970, the Rangers' fate would be decided. The question of the moment prior to referee Bill Friday dropping the puck for the opening faceoff against Detroit, led by their ageless superstar Gordie Howe, was simple: Could Francis's Rangers defeat Detroit, score at least FIVE goals, if not more, and thereupon shift the pressure to Montreal? Before a nationwide "NHL Game of the Week" television audience, the Rangers would now have one final chance to prove what they were, or were not, made of. The result of the wildest regular-season finish during the NHL's first century, as well as the most famous regular season game in the Rangers' nine-plus decades, would be found on the front page of the following morning's New York Times.