Rangers Open Season with a Win [J. Mark English]

...and also they announced that they will retire Brian Leetch's number in January.

There is little reason why this should not be a special season for the New York Rangers. On paper they could be one of the best teams in the NHL, and even SI picked them to go to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Sharks. But they have had great players on this team before, and have shown very little for their efforts. Hopefully they will break that trend this year.

Here is more from the Rangers website:

The Rangers erupted for four third-period goals tonight at Madison Square Garden to humble the visiting Florida Panthers 5-2 in the season opener for both teams.

Trailing 2-1 after two periods, the Blueshirts outshot the Panthers 16-8 in the third, getting goals from Petr Prucha, Chris Drury, Ryan Callahan and Martin Straka.

Henrik Lundqvist was his usual self in goal, stopping 27 shots for the victory.

Drury was named the game's No. 1 star in his first game with the Rangers.