New York Rangers

Chris Drury isn't going to play Monday night against Columbus. He might not even join the Rangers on a three-game road trip that opens Wednesday in Florida.

But the Rangers' captain has taken significant steps in his recovery from the concussion he suffered on Nov. 7. He's skating on his own for the first time since the blindside hit by Calgary's Curtis Glencross before Saturday's 3-2 loss to the Panthers.

"My head felt fine; everything else has to catch up from two weeks off," Drury said. "I'd love to have a (return) date or a game to tell you guys or my teammates, but it's just day by day, hopefully I keep getting better."

Drury, who has been symptom-free for about a week, skated for 30 minutes before his teammates took the ice for Saturday's morning skate. He was cleared by a team neurologist two days earlier to resume physical activity.

"The first four or five days, it's following a protocol," Drury said. "I'm just following instructions. I can't project when I'm going to be able to play. It's just going day by day, seeing how I feel, and listening to the doctors and trainers."

Glencross was suspended three games by the NHL for the shoulder shot to Drury's head, which resulted in the third concussion of his career and his first since February 2007. The league's general managers also discussed hits to the head at their recent GM meetings.

"I don't want to get into specifics (of Glencross' suspension), but I am encouraged by the dialogue at the GM meetings," Drury said. "It seems like steps are being taken to rid the game of those hits. I don't think this has anything to do with how physical our game is. We should have hitting. It's a very important part of the game that I don't think should be touched, but blindside hits are different, especially hits to the head. I'm glad to see they're talking about it. It seems like something is going to be done."

PANTHERS 3, RANGERS 2: As if the Rangers didn't have enough problems with a team-wide lack of scoring -- aside from rolling goal-hound Marian Gaborik -- now they have to deal with unlucky bounces, too? Henrik Lundqvist was burned for a tiebreaking goal -- on a lofty popup from the right point by Jordan Leopold that bounced between the goalie's legs -- in the second period en route to the Rangers 10th loss in their last 14 games (4-9-1).

"I just lost it," Lundqvist said. "Guys were waving their sticks, and it just bounced in front of me."

Gaborik netted his 16th goal in 20 appearances this season in the third period, but the Rangers finished with no more than two goals for the eighth time in 10 games.

"It was ugly at times, but I think we gathered ourselves and took a run at it in the second half of the game," coach John Tortorella said. "We didn't win the game, so it's not good enough, but we're just going to keep on working at it and find a way to not have to have a goalie perfect by scoring just one or two goals."

• LW Donald Brashear, who missed eight of 12 games earlier this month with an injured right hand, was bumped up to the third line by head coach John Tortorella in Saturday's 3-2 loss to Florida.

  "I've got to try to gain some trust in him," Tortorella said of the veteran enforcer. "If he can just do the job along the walls, I want to get him involved more along the way and see what he can bring us here because some other guys aren't exactly going."

• LW Enver Lisin, who has remained in the lineup despite a fractured bone in his foot, is one of those who "aren't exactly going," with no goals in his last nine games. Lisin was dropped from the first line to the fourth line Saturday.

  "I think it's not so much physical, it's mentally. I just need him concentrating," Tortorella said. "When he started turning his game around, he wasn't turning over pucks, he was holding onto the puck more. It's flying off his stick. He was finishing checks. I thought for a span of six, seven games he did a great job in finishing checks and adding some forechecking that way so that's what we're looking to get him back to."

Quote To Note:

"You just keep trying to battle through this. I wish I could tell you how to get out of it. The only way I know is for the team to stay together. We have to have a little bit of resiliency. It is a miserable time, but you have to come to work and fight your way through."

—Coach John Tortorella, following the Rangers' 3-2 loss Saturday against Florida, their 10th in 14 games.

Goaltenders:

Henrik Lundqvist, Steve Valiquette.

Defensemen:

Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Wade Redden, Matt Gilroy, Michal Rozsival, Michael Del Zotto.

First Line:

Ales Kotalik, Vinny Prospal, Marian Gaborik.

Second Line:

Sean Avery, Artem Anisimov, P.A. Parenteau.

Third Line:

Donald Brashear, Chris Higgins, Ryan Callahan.

Fourth Line:

Enver Lisin, Brian Boyle, Aaron Voros.

Player Notes:

• C Vinny Prospal had a goal and an assist in a 3-2 loss Saturday to Florida, giving him 23 points in 22 games this season.

• RW Marian Gaborik scored his 16th goal in 20 appearances.

• D Michal Rozsival's assist on Gaborik's goal was his first point in 11 games.

Medical Watch:

• C Brandon Dubinksy sustained a broken right hand blocking a shot Nov. 7 against Calgary and is expected to be out until mid-December.

• C Chris Drury has resumed skating for the first time since suffering a concussion Nov. 7 against Calgary but remains out indefinitely.