The Rangers officially kick off their 85th season tonight in Buffalo, when they square off against the Sabres. Buffalo won last night, defeating the Ottawa Senators 2-1 on the back of two goals by Derek Roy.

This will be just the second time in the franchise’s history that the Rangers have opened the season against the Sabres, the only other time was in 1995, when Buffalo beat New York 2-1 (boxscore).

It’s the first time the Rangers have opened again a team from the Northeast Division since 1996 when the Bruins and Rangers played to a 4-4 tie.

Overall the Rangers are 34-36-13 in the 83 opening night games they’ve played – 2004-05 of course was cancelled due to the lockout. Since the lockout they’re 4-1-0, with the one loss coming last season to the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins.

In the last ten season openers, they’re 6-3-1, a dramatic improvement of the 2-6-2 record they had in the 1989-1998, but not as good as 7-2-1 record they had in the first ten seasons, including winning their first seven straight.

The most goals they’ve scored in a season opener was seven against the Chicago Blackhawks in 1955. They’ve managed to score six goals on eight occasions, with the most recent occurrence in 1983 against the Devils.

Twice they’ve given up seven goals to their opponents, 1942 in Toronto and 1980 against the Bruins.

They’ve shut out their opponents five times, but not since 1956, and have been shut out three times – the last in 1999 in a 1-0 loss to the Flyers.

It’s the second straight season the Rangers have opened up on the road, after starting the season at MSG three times.

John Tortorella is 5-2-0 in season openers, but is 0-1-0 with the Rangers. He’s the second most successful coach with seven or more seasons, trailing only former Ranger coach Tom Renney 7-0-0. Renney was 4-0-0 with the Rangers.

Chris Drury scored the Rangers’ first goal of the season last year, and took the first penalty, a holding call.

Henrik Lundqvist has played in four season openers and is 3-1-0, his first loss coming last year in Pittsburgh. Overall he has a 2.02 GAA and a Save Percentage of .926 in those games.

Last 10 First Goals of the Season
2009 – Chris Drury in 3-2 loss vs Penguins
2008 – Markus Naslund in 2-1 win vs Lightning
2007 – Michal Rozsival in 5-2 win vs Panthers
2006 – Jaromir Jagr in 5-2 win vs Capitals
2005 – Jason Strudwick in 5-3 win vs Flyers
2004 – Season cancelled
2003 – Jan Hlavac in 5-3 loss vs Wild
2002 – Mark Messier in 4-1 win vs Hurricanes
2001 – Mark Messier in 3-1 loss vs Hurricanes
2000 – Valeri Kamensky in 2-1 loss vs Thrashers
1999 – Tim Taylor in 2-2 tie vs Oilers