Drury delivers as Rangers power past Panthers in third
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The New York Rangers struck four times in the third period for a 5-2 come-from-behind victory over the Florida Panthers on Thursday.
Chris Drury, the former Buffalo Sabres center, scored once and had two assists at Madison Square Garden to help guide the Rangers to victory in their season opener.
"Once we started playing better in the third, I knew good things were going to happen," Drury told reporters.
Drury put the Rangers ahead 3-2, and assisted on Michal Rozsival's early opener and Martin Straka's goal that rounded out the scoring.
His tie-breaking goal was about being in the right place at the right time.
"Jags (Jaromir Jagr) had a little turnaround quick shot, the goalie's got to sprawl to make a save," Drury said. "A bang-bang play and I'm right there."
New York also had third-period goals by Petr Prucha and Ryan Callahan.
Brett McLean and Nathan Horton scored for the Panthers with both goals coming in the second period.
"We obviously decided to go into a shell," Panthers center McLean told reporters. "It wasn't a conscious decision, but we did."
Florida coach Jacques Martin had a more detailed explanation.
"We changed our game," Martin told reporters.
"The first two periods we made good, short passes and had good support out of our zone.
"In the third we started to leave the zone before the puck, didn't make the simple play, didn't get the puck in deep. So consequently we were on defense instead of offense."
*Jarret Stoll's shootout goal was the difference as the Edmonton Oilers beat the San Jose Sharks 3-2. San Jose's Joe Thornton scored with 11 seconds left in regulation to force the extra period.
*Daniel Alfredsson scored twice, including the game-winner on a third-period powerplay, as the Ottawa Senators edged the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2.
*Vincent Lecavalier's second goal broke a 1-1 tie and led the Tampa Bay Lightning to a 3-1 home win over the New Jersey Devils.
*Jason Arnott had two goals and Chris Mason made 35 saves in the Nashville Predators's 4-0 home win over the Colorado Avalanche.
(Writing by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina)
