"Wade Redden needed only two games to make his presence felt for the Rangers.

The defenseman had a goal and an assist, and the Rangers rallied to beat the Lightning 2-1 and swept their two-game, season-opening series in Europe.

"It feels good to chip in the goal," Redden said. "It's going to be my intention to keep building throughout the season."

Redden, who signed a six-year, $39 million free-agent deal with the Rangers during the summer, tied it with a power-play goal 3:47 into the second period when he blasted a shot past goalie Olaf Kolzig off a pass from Markus Naslund.

"Wade is a very calculated player, he's a very poised player," Rangers coach Tom Renney said. "He's got a lot of patience. He can process things quickly and yet make it look almost too calm. He did it tonight."

Redden said the long trip overseas, which included exhibition victories over Swiss team Bern and European champion Metallurg Magnitogorsk in Switzerland, was a positive one for the Blueshirts, who went 1-5 in preseason games against NHL teams in North America.

"We used the time well to get to know each other," he said. "It was good for everyone to get away and just focus on what we're going to do and what the team is all about."

The Lightning had only three shots on goal in the opening period, but went up 1-0 when Adam Hall scored after Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist partially blocked Andrej Meszaros' drive with 1:43 remaining.

Scott Gomez scored into an empty net 12:12 into the second period after Rangers winger Aaron Voros deflected a shot by Redden.

Lightning center Steven Stamkos, the No. 1 pick in this year's draft, hit the crossbar late in the period and both teams missed a number of scoring chances. "