off the ice during practice Tuesday after the New York Rangers' leading
scorer was cut on the right knee by the 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 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 team's
practice facility, but didn't require X-rays. He wasn't available to
speak to reporters.
Gaborik's status for Wednesday night's home
game against Nashville wasn't immediately clear. He also is slated to
play for Slovakia in 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. New York (26-26-7) will resume
play March 2 at Ottawa.