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

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun

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.


The New York Sun

© 2025 The New York Sun Company, LLC. All rights reserved.

Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. The material on this site is protected by copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used.

The New York Sun

Sign in or  Create a free account

or
By continuing you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use