marian gaborik injury report

Marian Gaborik Completes a Marian Gaborik Hat Trick

It’s safe to say that, through the first month of the season, the Rangers have gotten their money’s worth with Marian Gaborik. With 28 18 points, he’s second in the NHL in scoring, and tied for the league lead in goals with ten. Last night, he treated the Garden crowd to the full Marian Gaborik experience: two goals, an assist, and an injury. If a Gordie Howe Hat Trick consists of a goal, an assist, and a fight, we suggest this feat heretofore be referred to as a Marian Gaborik Hat Trick. We suspect it won’t be the last time we see it.

With 8:47 remaining in the third, the notoriously injury-prone Gaborik headed to the locker room, though said afterward that it’s “nothing major” and not related to his “groins or hips or torso.” He described the injury only as a lower-body injury, and said he’ll see how he feels today. Coach John Tortorella didn’t seem very concerned after the game, either, saying that because the game was in control — the Rangers beat the Coyotes 5–2, by the way — there was no reason for him to try to play.

Of course, most people inside the Garden didn’t know he’d left the bench — in the last five minutes, we still heard people calling for him to get out on the ice to complete a real hat trick — but when Gaborik’s name was announced as the game’s first star and he was nowhere to be seen, the few fans who stayed until the final buzzer knew something was up. Asks one fan this morning: “Did we win the game, and lose the season?” It doesn’t appear so yet, but if this injury (or any future Gaborik injury) did turn out to be serious, that would be a question worth pondering.

Marian Gaborik Completes a Marian Gaborik Hat Trick