Random Recaps: Rangers vs. Devils | Oct. 13, 2005

In Random Recaps, we're getting back into the swing of recapping Rangers games for the upcoming 2025-25 season by taking a look back at random Rangers games from the past. To read more of these, go here.

The post lockout season is probably the first one where I crossed the bridge from being just a kid who liked hockey to full fledged fanatic. A large part of that had to do with a certain piece of New York Rangers history that's the focus of this Random Recap.

The 2005-06 season was remarkable for the Rangers for a number of reasons. First off, it was the first time they made the playoffs since 1997. They reached 100 points in a season for just the sixth time in franchise history. Jaromir Jagr led the resurgence, breaking a number of Rangers records in the process including most goals and points in a season. But most notably, there was a new face in net that was showing a ton of promise in Henrik Lundqvist. 

A 205th overall pick in the seventh round of the 2000 draft, the Rangers took an absolute flyer on a goaltender from Sweden who went on to become arguably their best and most important player in franchise history. Henrik Lundqvist made his NHL debut against the New Jersey Devils in a 3-2 overtime loss on Oct. 8, 2005. Lundqvist would get his crack at a rematch just five days later, this time on home ice. 

The Rangers struck first in this one as Martin Ruchinsky picked up his third goal in just five games to start the season. Assists on the goal came from Maxim Kondratiev and Steven Rucchin. Ruchinsky had a bit of a fascinating career, especially in terms of history with the Rangers. A 20th overall pick by the Edmonton Oilers in 1991, the Czech winger had a professional hockey career that spanned almost three decades. After making his NHL debut with the Oilers, Ruchinsky made his way to the Quebec Nordiques-turned-Colorado Avalanche for about five years before he was dealt to the Montreal Canadiens in the mega-deal that brought Patrick Roy to Colorado. After six full seasons there, he began the 2001-02 season in Dallas before being dealt to the Rangers alongside Roman Lyashenko for Manny Malhotra and Barrett Heisten. 

From 2001 to 2006, Ruchinsky spent every other season with the Rangers (no, really, check it out). Throughout that time he had some of the best seasons of his career, specifically in the back half of his career. The 2005-06 season was tied for the second best of his career with 16 goals and 39 assists for a total of 55 points. 

Maxim Kondratiev is another interesting story and a great candidate for "Remember That Ranger?" A sixth round pick by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2001 (168th overall) Kondratiev finished his NHL career with one goal and two assists for a total of three points in 40 games played. Those three points? All came in his 29 games with the Rangers in that 2005-06 season. Kondratiev bounced around and would play four more games with the Anaheim Ducks two seasons later, but spent the majority of his career in the KHL. In fact, he was still playing over in Russia just a few years ago with his last season being 2019-20. 

The Rangers extended their lead against the Devils just 17 seconds later with a goal from Ville Nieminen, assisted by Jed Ortmeyer. During our 4 Nations Series, we spent some time recalling Nieminen, who won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001. As far as his Rangers contributions went, he collected 17 points in 48 games before the Rangers shipped him to San Jose for Sandis Ozoliņš. 

As for Jed Ortmeyer, he was a beloved role player with the Rangers in the mid-00s’ to the point where he won two Steven McDonald Extra Effort Awards in 2004 and 2007. His 24 points in three seasons with the Rangers weren’t the most significant but certainly made an impression in New York as he is currently the Director of Player Development with the Rangers.

The Rangers would take a 3-0 lead into the first intermission, as Blair Betts picked up his first of the season on a backhander with Martin Straka and Jason Ward picking up the helpers. Jason Ward is another wonderful choice for “name a random athlete.” He had a pretty underwhelming career for a former 11th overall pick. He made his NHL debut in the 1999-00 season and after bouncing back and forth in Montreal’s systems for six seasons, he made his way to New York. His 28 points in 81 games would absolutely be his career best, and it did help him have a slight career resurgence. He became a bit of a journeyman with stints in Tampa and Los Angeles before his career fizzled out in 2008. 

The second period was more penalty filled then anything, but the Devils would get on the board early in the third period. Brian Gionta snuck a backhander to spoil Lundqvist’s shutout bid, with assists to Dan McGillis and former friend Vladimir Malakhov. Fun fact: Among my collection of hockey memorabilia is an autographed Vladimir Malakhov stick that my parents won in a raffle at a game back in the day. One of those classic orange Easton Synergy’s. A Cup champion with the Devils in 2000, Malakhov was effective enough in four seasons with the Rangers, but definitely a bit overused in a top pair role in those years. 

Jaromir Jagr would convert on the power play for his fourth of the 54 goals he would go on to score in that season, making it a 4-1 game. Jagr would also go on to break the Rangers power play goal record that season with a total of 24. Jagr has had one of the most brilliant careers in all of hockey and possibly in all of sports. He’s pushing almost forty years of playing the sport, as he’s still playing over in Czechia at the ripe age of 53. Close to 1,800 career games played, 1,921 total points. He played for nine different teams throughout his career but for those three years, especially that 2005-06 season, he was an outstanding New York Ranger. 

Lundqvist would stop all but one of 21 shots on goal from the Devils for his first of 459 career wins across 887 games. Just five days later, he became the first rookie goaltender since John Vanbiesbrouck in 1984 to record a shutout. His rookie season would go on to consist of 30 wins, 12 losses, and nine overtime points with a .922 save percentage. Lundqvist also set a franchise record becoming the first rookie goalie with 30 wins in a season. 

The lineup that night looked something along the lines of :

Straka - Nylander - Jagr
Ruchinsky - Rucchin - Prucha
Hossa - Betts - Ward
Nieminen - Moore - Ortmeyer

Poti - Tyutin
Kasparatis - Kondratiev
Malik - Rozsival 

Lundqvist - Montoya

Not the most impressive lineup by any means but, man, it was a fun year. It was the first time I could remember and actually comprehend the fact that the Rangers were in the playoffs. they had one of the best players in the game on the top line alongside some other big name players in Michael Nylander and Martin Straka. But most notably, we had Henrik Lundqvist. And for the next 15 years, he was and would always be, the heart and soul of the New York Rangers.