NHL

Rangers’ Zuccarello flies home with broken hand

Six of the seven Rangers who went to Sochi for the Olympics will compete in Friday’s semifinals, alive in the competition for the gold medal.

The seventh, Mats Zuccarello, is on his way back to New York with a non-displaced fracture of the left hand that, preliminarily at least, is expected to sideline the club’s leading scorer for a week-to-10 days after the Blueshirts’ resume their schedule Feb. 27 with the first of three games in four nights, six in 11 and nine matches in 16 nights.

Zuccarello, who will be examined upon arriving in New York on Thursday afternoon by hand specialist Dr. Martin Posner, is believed to have sustained the injury when hit by a shot during Norway’s 3-1 loss to Austria on Sunday. A more definitive time frame regarding Zuccarello’s absence will be known after the exam.

The 26-year-old did not play in his country’s 4-0 qualification game loss to Russia on Tuesday. Zuccarello, who leads the Blueshirts with 43 points and is tied for second with 15 goals, three fewer than Rick Nash, had eight points (2 goals, 6 assists) in the last six games and 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in the last 11 matches before the break.

The Rangers, who resume practice on Thursday, were not carrying a spare forward leading into the hiatus. Though Derek Dorsett might be ready to return from the broken foot he sustained on Jan. 3, the Blueshirts could decide to promote J.T. Miller from the AHL Wolf Pack to move into the top-nine role assumed by Zuccarello, who has been skating on the line with Derick Brassard and Benoit Pouliot.

Miller, who spent time centering Zuccarello and Pouliot on the Rangers’ third line during Ryan Callahan’s nine-game absence in December, has 17 points (3-14) in 16 games since being returned early last month to Hartford. The Wolf Pack have games on Friday, Saturday and Tuesday.

Unless the prognosis is far more serious than expected, Zuccarello’s injury would not have an impact on management’s decision-making process regarding pending free agents Callahan and Dan Girardi as the March 5 trade deadline looms.

General manager Glen Sather is believed committed to dealing either player (or both) as a premium rental property if unsigned to a contract extension. The NHL roster freeze expires at midnight on Sunday night, thus leaving a 10-day window leading up to the trade deadline.