01/23/1944 • 5 views
Red Wings Rout Rangers 15–0 in NHL Record-Setting Game
On January 23, 1944, the Detroit Red Wings defeated the New York Rangers 15–0, setting the NHL record for largest margin of victory in a single game — a mark that remains part of NHL history.
Detroit's 15-goal output remains the most goals scored by one team in an NHL game while the 15-goal differential is the largest margin of victory on record. The Red Wings were a strong team in the mid-1940s and benefited from several high-scoring forwards and effective team play. Contemporary box scores and newspaper accounts of the period list the scoring by Detroit across the three periods, with multiple players contributing goals and assists; however, differing newspaper transcriptions from the era mean some minor statistical details (such as secondary assists in every instance) can vary between sources.
The Rangers, meanwhile, were a struggling club in the early 1940s, hampered by roster turnover and wartime absences. Their goaltender and defensive corps were overwhelmed by Detroit’s attack that evening. The lopsided score prompted coverage in Detroit and New York papers; sportswriters of the day emphasized Detroit’s offensive efficiency and New York’s inability to generate sustained play. Postgame analysis from the period tended to frame the result as an extreme, if not wholly unprecedented, outcome brought on by a convergence of strong play by one side and numerous issues on the other.
Statistically, the game has endured as an outlier in league history. NHL record compilations and historical summaries consistently cite the 15–0 margin as the largest recorded in a single game. Over subsequent decades, rule changes, improved goaltending equipment, and deeper rosters have made such blowouts rare, helping this 1944 result retain its place in the record books.
Historians and sports statisticians treating the game note contextual caveats: wartime roster effects, differences in scheduling and travel, and variations in contemporary record-keeping. These caveats do not change the fundamental fact of the scoreline, but they do inform understanding of why such an extreme result occurred during that season.
The game is part of the broader narrative of the Original Six era and the wartime NHL. For fans and historians, the 15–0 Red Wings victory remains a frequently cited example of an unmatched margin of victory in professional hockey, frequently referenced in retrospectives about record games and the evolution of competitive balance in the NHL.