In the 1993–94 season, Linden scored 32 goals, the fifth time in six seasons he had scored at least 30, but his points total fell to 61 as the Canucks finished 12 points behind the division leader. Although they were the seventh seed in the playoffs, the Canucks reached the Stanley Cup Finals for the first time in 12 years and second time in team history. Considered the underdogs against the Presidents' Trophy-winning New York Rangers captained by Mark Messier, the Canucks initially fell behind three games to one but pushed the series to seven games. In Game 7, Linden scored twice (the next player to get two goals in a game seven was Alex Tanguay in 2001), but the Canucks lost 3–2. Linden finished second on the team in playoff scoring, with 12 goals and 25 points. It was revealed afterwards that Linden had played through the finals with broken ribs and torn rib cartilage.