(Best E Casino) - For the second straight year the NHL regular season will kick off in Europe, as the New York Rangers take on the Tampa Bay Lightning today at O2 Arena in Prague.

The Ottawa Senators and Pittsburgh Penguins will also open their 2008-09 campaigns later with a matchup at The Globe Arena in Stockholm. Last year, the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings began the NHL season with a pair of games in London.

The Lightning will be the designated home club for today's contest and New York will be the host in Sunday's matchup.

Last season could be considered somewhat of a disappointment for the Rangers. The team made two big grabs in the free-agent market in the summer of 2007, as they signed centers Scott Gomez from New Jersey and Chris Drury from Buffalo while retaining their core group of players from the previous season.

New York struggled early in the season and finished October with a record of 4-6-1 as the club worked through fitting their new acquisitions into the mix. However, the team rebounded in November and at the end of the season saw itself in third place in the Atlantic and fifth overall in the conference.

In the playoffs, the team easily dispatched New Jersey in five games to avenge a four-game sweep by the Devils in 2006. In the second round, though, the Rangers were easily handled by eventual conference champion Pittsburgh in five games.

The biggest piece missing from this year's squad is future Hall of Famer Jaromir Jagr, who left for Russia in the offseason to sign a lucrative contract with Avangard Omsk. Unfortunately, the Czech native will miss the chance to play in the first regular-season NHL contest played in his home nation.

Drury will take over the "C" from Jagr after being named the club's 25th team captain on Friday. He was previously co-captain with Daniel Briere during their time in Buffalo.

Tonight will also mark the official Rangers debuts for forwards Markus Naslund, Wade Redden and Nikolai Zherdev, who were all acquired in the offseason.

Meanwhile, the Lightning had a very busy summer, as they made changes at just about every level of the organization. Not a bad idea since the team finished dead last in the NHL in 2007-08 with 71 points.

Tampa saw the arrival of new team owners Oren Koules and Len Barrie, who hired former NHLer Brian Lawton to run things as vice president of hockey operations. Lawton then brought in former ESPN analyst Barry Melrose as head coach, his first behind-the-bench job since leaving Wayne Gretzky and the Los Angeles Kings in 1994.

Additionally, Tampa Bay signed franchise centerpiece Vincent Lecavalier to an 11-year contract after a 40-goal season and brought in a slew of offensive talent from elsewhere - including Ryan Malone and Gary Roberts from Pittsburgh, Vinny Prospal from Philadelphia and Radim Vrbata from the Phoenix Coyotes.

Veteran goalie Olaf Kolzig is also in the fold and will back up starter Mike Smith after arriving from Washington.

The Lightning were also awarded the first overall pick in the 2008 draft and selected Ontario Hockey League scoring phenom Steven Stamkos, who had a superb final junior season by scoring 58 goals and tying for fifth in the OHL with 105 points. Stamkos is expected to make his NHL debut in today's contest.

Tampa Bay has won two straight and four of its last five meetings with the Rangers.

The Lightning have won their last five season-opening contests, while New York has been began its last three campaigns with victories.