The New York Rangers could have captain Chris Drury back in the lineup this evening when they visit the Florida Panthers at BankAtlantic Center.

Drury, who has missed the last five games with a concussion, has been cleared to join the team on the trip.

"When he's ready to go, he's going to play," Rangers coach John Tortorella said. "No matter what shape he's in, he's going to give 100 percent of what he has. It will be a boost for our team to have him in there."

New York picked up a much-needed win on Monday, but it didn't look as if things were going to go its way early on. The Rangers fell behind two goals early against Columbus, but after a quick timeout from Tortorella, the Rangers' stagnant offense exploded, as they scored seven unanswered goals in a 7-4 win over the Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden.

"I just told them to take a deep breath because we weren't playing that badly," Tortorella said. "We just made a couple of mistakes and it ends up in the net. I just told them to take a deep breath (because) there is a lot of hockey left. They deserve a little bit of the credit of staying within themselves."

Sean Avery scored twice during a three-goal surge in the second period, and Marian Gaborik stretched his points streak to seven games, as he netted two goals and had a pair of assists in the win, which halted a two-game skid for New York.

Gaborik is tied with San Joses Dany Heatley with an NHL-leading 18 goals, and his 32 points tie him for second with Joe Thornton of the Sharks, one back of Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar.

Michael Del Zotto, Artem Anisimov and Matt Gilroy also scored in the victory, while Henrik Lundqvist registered 26 saves for the Rangers, whose only win streak this season was their seven-game run from October 3-17.

"Over the last few games, I've tried to pick up my game up a bit," said Avery. "The biggest thing for us was coming back from a deficit and getting the win."

New York will be starting a three-game road trip tonight that will also include stops in Tampa and Pittsburgh. It is 5-5-1 away from home this season

Florida, meanwhile, wasted a two-goal lead at home on Monday before losing in overtime to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-2.

Nathan Horton and Keith Ballard scored for the Panthers, who had won five of six. However, they still earned a point and are 5-0-2 in their last seven contests, with the last regulation loss coming on November 7 against Washington.

Tomas Vokoun stopped 42-of-45 shots in the setback.

"We slowed down a bit in the third and it was almost like we were just trying to hang on," said Ballard. "But we didn't cause we gave them too many chances and it didn't go our way."

Horton has three goals with four assists in his past six games.

Florida beat the Rangers at MSG on Saturday and has won four straight and five of the last six matchups. The Panthers have also dominated this matchup at home of late, winning four of their last five and five of their last seven against the Blueshirts in Sunrise.