Drury, Rangers Come Alive in Third, Beat Panthers in Opener

Chris Drury brought his winning ways to Broadway on opening night.

Drury's first goal in a Rangers uniform snapped a third-period tie last night and sparked a late scoring outburst that carried New York to a 5–2 victory over the Florida Panthers.

Signed this summer after helping the Buffalo Sabres eliminate the Rangers in the second round of last season's playoffs, Drury put in a rebound 8:46 into the third period to give New York a 3–2 lead and spark a spurt of three goals in a 4:16 span.

Petr Prucha, Ryan Callahan and Martin Straka also scored in the third period as the Rangers turned a 2-1 deficit into a rousing victory. Often-booed defenseman Marek Malik assisted on three of the final-period tallies, captain Jaromir Jagr set up two, as did Drury who had a helper on Straka's goal with 6:58 left that made it 5–2.

Michal Rozsival gave the Rangers a 1–0 advantage just 37 seconds into the game. Brett McLean and Nathan Horton scored second-period goals for the Panthers, who seemed to have the game in hand before the late meltdown.

Tomas Vokoun made 20 saves in his Panthers debut, but didn't make a good first impression. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 27 shots for the Rangers, who recorded only nine at the other end through 40 minutes.