Although it's been an up-and-down season thus far for the New York Rangers, Marian Gaborik hasn't had too many low points in his first go-around with the team.

The NHL's leading goal scorer will be trying to set a new career-best for games with at least one point when he leads the Blueshirts into the St. Pete Times Forum tonight for a matchup with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Gaborik, signed to a five-year, $37.5-million free-agent contract by the Rangers in July, scored his league-best 19th goal of the season in Wednesday's 2-1 shootout victory at Florida, which extended the oft-injured wing's scoring streak to eight games. The 27-year-old has notched eight goals and six assists over that stretch and has registered at least one point in all but two of New York's contests this year.

Gaborik has compiled 33 points in 24 games this season, tied with Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar and San Jose's Joe Thornton for tops in the NHL.

The Rangers have now won two straight times after P.A. Parenteau netted the lone shootout goal in Wednesday's triumph. The rookie forward fired a shot that beat Panthers netminder Tomas Vokoun on the stick side, and Henrik Lundqvist followed with a glove save on Stephen Weiss to end the third and final round.

"I just wanted to see what [Vokoun] was going to give me," Parenteau said. "He gave me the blocker side low...I wasn't sure what to do. I just dragged [the puck] to see what was going to get open."

Chris Drury, playing for the first time since sustaining a concussion in a November 7 loss at Calgary, set up Gaborik's power-play goal in the second period. The Rangers did lose defenseman Wade Redden in the opening frame to a shoulder injury that's expected to sideline him for tonight's contest as well.

The Rangers will be aiming to keep their winning streak going when they take on a Tampa Bay club they've had plenty of success against in recent years. New York took all four meetings between the teams last season and have prevailed in seven of the past nine matchups in the series.

Tonight's clash also marks Rangers head coach John Tortorella's first game against Tampa Bay since being fired by the Lightning following the conclusion of the 2007-08 campaign. He spent seven seasons behind the bench for Tampa Bay and guided the team to four playoff appearances, including a Stanley Cup title in 2003-04.

The Lightning have dropped three of their last four games and were dealt a 4-3 home defeat by Toronto on Wednesday. Antero Niittymaki made 31 saves in a losing cause.

Steven Stamkos recorded two assists for Tampa Bay and has amassed nine points (3 goals, 6 assists) over his last nine outings. The former No. 1 overall pick is tied with Ryan Malone, who netted his 15th goal of the season in Wednesday's loss, for the team lead in that category.

Martin St. Louis also assisted on Malone's marker to extend his scoring streak to five games. The former Hart Trophy winner has posted two goals and five helpers over that time period.

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