Chris Drury brought his winning ways to Broadway on opening night, leading the Rangers to a 5-2 win over Florida on Thursday.
Signed this summer after helping Buffalo eliminate the New York Rangers in 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 quick goals.
Petr Prucha, Ryan Callahan and Martin Straka also scored in the third period as the Rangers rallied from a 2-1 deficit. 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.
PHOTO: EPA
Brett McLean and Nathan Horton scored second-period goals for Florida, who seemed to have the game in hand before the late meltdown.
Senators 3, Maple Leafs 2
In Ottawa, Daniel Alfredsson scored twice, including the game-winner on a power play with just 4:59 remaining, to lift Ottawa to victory over Toronto.
Alfredsson put a wrist shot into the top left corner for his third goal of the season to put the Senators back in front after they blew a two-goal lead in the second.
Dany Heatley assisted on Alfredsson's opening goal 8:18 into the game before he scored on a power play at 13:06 of the second to put Ottawa up 2-0.
Mats Sundin and Matt Stajan scored goals 32 seconds apart later in the period to rally the Maple Leafs.
Lightning 3, Devils 1
In Tampa, Florida, Vincent Lecavalier scored twice for Tampa Bay, spoiling Brent Sutter's debut as New Jersey coach.
Vinny Prospal set up Lecavalier's second goal with 3:52 left in the third, to make it 2-1, and Prospal added an empty-net goal with 58 seconds left.
New Jersey is opening the season with a nine-game road trip, which will allow construction of the Devils new arena in Newark to be completed for the home opener Oct. 27.
Predators 4, Avalanche 0
In Nashville, Tennessee, Jason Arnott's two goals and Chris Mason's 35 saves led Nashville to a season-opening win over Colorado.
Arnott's one-timer beat Colorado goaltender Peter Budaj between his pads at 4:31 of the first, and he struck again from close range nearly 10 minutes later.
In the second period, Nashville made it 3-0 as Dan Hamhuis beat Budaj low to his stick side from the middle of the left circle.
Tyler Weiman scored the fourth.
Wild 1, Blackhawks 0
In St. Paul, Minnesota, Niklas Backstrom made 27 saves and Pierre-Marc Bouchard scored the lone goal as Minnesota beat Chicago.
Backstrom, the unflappable goalie from Finland, was given a two-year, US$6.2 million contract in June that triggered the trade of Manny Fernandez to Boston. In his first game under the burden of the big money and the starting job, Backstrom shone.
He didn't give up many rebounds and didn't budge when the Blackhawks had a brief 5-on-3 midway through the second period.
Oilers 3, Sharks 2, SO
In Edmonton, Alberta, Jarret Stoll scored in the shootout to lift Edmonton to victory over San Jose.
The Sharks equalized with just 11 seconds left in regulation through Joe Thornton.
The game was scoreless until Patrick Marleau got the Sharks on the board 26 seconds into the third period. Edmonton was quick to respond just over a minute later. Andrew Cogliano snapped a shot that deflected off the skate of Tom Gilbert in front of the Sharks' net and in.
The Oilers took the lead just over a minute later as Sheldon Souray sent a shot from the point that got behind Sharks goalie Evgeni Nabokov. Kyle Brodziak dove to sweep the puck in to put Edmonton ahead 2-1.
Flyers 3, Flames 2
In Calgary, Alberta, Daniel Briere scored his first two goals for Philadelphia in the win over Calgary, spoiling Mike Keenan's regular-season debut behind the Flames' bench.
Mike Knuble and Briere scored in the first period to give the Flyers a 2-0 lead. The Flames tied the game on a pair of goals from Daymond Langkow.
Briere connected on the game-winner with 1:48 left.
Coyotes 3, Blues 2
In Glendale, Arizona, rookie Daniel Winnik's first NHL goal stood as the game-winner in Phonenix's victory over St Louis.
Winnik converted a centering pass at 7:30 of the third period to extend the Coyotes' lead to 3-0, just 12 seconds after Mike York scored Phoenix's second goal.
Keith Tkachuk and Brad Boyce scored late in the third to pull the Blues to 3-2, but the Coyotes hung on for the win.
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