Marian Gaborik limped off at practice on Tuesday after the New York
Rangers' leading scorer was cut on the right knee by the ice skate
of goalie Henrik Lundqvist in a collision.
Gaborik skated in on Lundqvist during a breakaway drill and
tried to jump over his teammate's outstretched leg when contact was
made. The Slovakian right wing, who has a team-high 35 goals and 69
points, fell to the ice and stayed down for a few moments.
"I thought he was joking," Lundqvist said. "My skate caught
his knee. Hopefully he'll be OK."
Gaborik skated off slowly with assistance and didn't put
weight on his right leg. He received stitches at the practice
facility, but didn't require X-rays. He wasn't available to speak
to reporters.
Gaborik's status for Wednesday's home game against Nashville
wasn't immediately clear. He's also slated to play for Slovakia at
the Vancouver Olympics.
"Right now, that's all we think it is," assistant coach Jim
Schoenfeld said. "It's not like it's a twist to the groin or the
knee. It's just a laceration."
Gaborik, who will turn 28 on Sunday, is in the first season
of a five-year, $37.5 million deal with the Rangers. After scoring
a career-high 42 goals in the 2007-08 season with Minnesota,
Gaborik was limited to 17 games last season because of hip surgery.
He has missed two games this season, but Gaborik played more
than 65 only one time in his final five seasons with Minnesota.
Gaborik has scored at least 30 goals in six of his nine NHL
seasons.
The Rangers have three games this week before the NHL takes a
two-week Olympic break.
