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Booth, Horton rally Panthers past Rangers

Feb 27, 2009 - 3:45 AM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- A quick spurt by the Florida Panthers' top scorers kept John Tortorella winless as coach of the New York Rangers.

David Booth and Nathan Horton scored exactly one minute apart in the third period as the Panthers rallied for a 2-1 victory over the slumping Rangers on Thursday.

"Nine times out of 10 when the other team plays like that, you usually lose," Florida coach Peter DeBoer said. "So we got a timely couple of goals from some big guys in the third period, Booth and Horton, and we got some great saves from Anderson."

Craig Anderson made 40 saves for Florida (31-22-8), which pulled into a tie with New York (31-24-8) for sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

"It's huge, especially on the road," Anderson said. "There's no distractions. You just show up and play. I think it's a huge momentum boost for us."

All-Star Henrik Lundqvist turned aside 20 shots and Markus Naslund netted the lone goal for the Rangers, who have lost 12 of their last 14 contests (2-8-4).

"In the last two games, we felt like we played a lot better, more speed, more energy," Lundqvist said. "Our defense is playing great, standing up a lot more. Our transition game is a lot better. It comes down to scoring."

Booth knotted the game at 1-1 with 8:10 remaining the final session, accepting a drop pass from Stephen Weiss and firing a backhander between the pads of Lundqvist. The 24-year-old Booth leads the Panthers with 21 goals this season, but had not scored since January 27 - a span of 11 games.

"That was a great play by Weiss," Booth said. "He sees that better than anyone I think. So to get it to me and get that puck on net, I'm glad it went in."

Florida took the lead 60 seconds later, when Horton took a centering pass from Richard Zednik and unleashed a one-timer past Lundqvist.

"It's a great feeling, especially when you need points and it was a big couple of minutes for our team," Horton said.

Tortorella, who replaced fired Tom Renney on Monday, witnessed a 2-1 overtime loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs during his debut on Wednesday. He also went 0-3-1 during a short stint with New York in the 1999-2000 campaign.

"I thought we did some really good things," Tortorella said. "The pressure was outstanding. I don't think we had any fatigue. Other than for a few minutes, I thought we controlled the game."

The Rangers opened the scoring at 7:34 of the first period. Scott Gomez's breakaway attempt was stopped by Anderson, but Markus Naslund chipped in the rebound for his team-leading 19th goal of the season.

"It is not going our way right now," Naslund said. "I am sure it will, if we keep putting out efforts like this, playing this way and getting chances like this. Eventually, it has to go our way."

New York appeared to score 17 ticks into the contest, but the goal was disallowed because Brandon Dubinsky deflected the puck in with a high stick.