April 29, 1971: The Pete Stemkowski Game

Pete Stemkowski, 1975. Note the Rangers' 50th Anniversary patch.

April 29, 1971: Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Semifinals is played, at what was still being called "The New Madison Square Garden Center." The New York Rangers need to beat the Chicago Black Hawks to stay alive. The game goes into a 3rd overtime, before Pete Stemkowski scores on Tony Esposito, 1 minute and 29 seconds in, to give the Broadway Blueshirts a 3-2 win.

It was the Rangers' 1st big moment since moving to the New Garden. But it didn't last: Three nights later, at Chicago Stadium, the Hawks won Game 7, 4-2, and went on to face the Montreal Canadiens in the Finals.

Before the Rangers finally won the Cup in 1994, for two generations not old enough to remember the glory days up until 1940, this was the most famous goal in Ranger history. It became a "Where were you when… ?" moment, like when the Knicks won the 1970 title at The Garden, or when the Mets and the Jets won their titles the year before (and, oh yeah, the Moon landing and Woodstock happened that year).

Stemkowski had won a Cup with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1967. He retired after the 1979 season, having scored 206 goals, plus 25 more in the Playoffs, including this one. The Winnipeg native went on to occasionally broadcast for the Rangers, having previously done so for the San Jose Sharks.

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April 29, 1971 was a Thursday. Actress Darby Stanchfield was born on this day.

There was 1 other Stanley Cup Playoff game on this day: The Montreal Canadiens beat the Minnesota North Stars, 3-2 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

Football was out of season. Both the NBA and the ABA were in their Playoffs at this point, but neither played on this day. The next day, the Milwaukee Bucks completed a 4-game NBA Finals sweep of the Baltimore Bullets. The American Basketball Association was between its Division Finals and its Finals. The Utah Stars went on to beat the Kentucky Colonels in 7 games.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-0 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Nolan Ryan outpitched Jerry Reuss. Neither would end up best known for pitching for those teams. Donn Clendenon went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk, and 3 RBIs. Cleon Jones went 3-for-4. Lou Brock went 0-for-3, but drew 2 walks and stole a base.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Washington Senators, 5-4 at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves, 5-2 at Atlanta Stadium (later Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium). The Giants got 3 straight RBI singles, by Ken Henderson, Tito Fuentes and Hal Lanier, in the top of the 13th inning. Willie Mays went 2-for-6. Willie McCovey went 1-for-5 with a walk. Hank Aaron went 0-for-5 with a walk.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. Duke Sims singled Manny Mota home with the winning run in the top of the 9th inning. Richie Hebner went 3-for-4 with the Bucs' only RBI, while the rest of the team combined only had 3 hits. Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell each went 0-for-4.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the San Diego Padres, 4-2 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. Pete Rose went 3-for-5. Johnny Bench went 1-for-4 with an RBI.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Chicago Cubs, 7-6 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Ernie Banks, in his last season, did not get into the game.

* The California Angels beat the Cleveland Indians, 8-4 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* And the Baltimore Orioles beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-2 at the Oakland Coliseum. A's manager Dick Williams started Rollie Fingers, and it almost worked, as he went the distance and struck out 10. But Jim Palmer was better, and was backed by home runs from Boog Powell and Don Buford. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-4. Frank Robinson did not play. Reggie Jackson went 1-for-3 with a walk.