NHL

Rangers could get Gaborik back

OTTAWA — The Rangers might have their top offensive weapon back in the lineup for tomorrow’s matinee at the Garden against the Flyers.

Marian Gaborik, out since the end of the first period of Philadelphia’s 4-2 win over the Blueshirts at the Garden on Feb. 20 and battling concussion symptoms, traveled with the team and skated earlier in the day.

“Up until this point, he seems fine after his skate,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said before the Rangers’ 4-1 win over the last-place Senators last night. “So we’ll see. . . . We’ll see how it goes [today], and we’ll make our decision.”

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After injuring his left knee in Thursday night’s 3-1 loss to the Wild at the Garden, Ryan McDonagh was scratched from last night’s game against the Senators.

Tortorella said the prognosis on McDonagh, who suffered a “wrenched knee” after a neutral-zone collision with Minnesota’s Kyle Brodziak, was better than expected, and that he was day-to-day.

Steve Eminger took McDonagh’s place in the lineup, and played with Bryan McCabe, while Michael Sauer skated with Matt Gilroy, with the top pairing of Marc Staal and Dan Girardi staying intact.

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Vinny Prospal almost became the 19th member of the Rangers to score a game-winning goal for the Blueshirts this season, before Sergei Gonchar scored a power-play goal 4:56 into the third period to end Henrik Lundqvist‘s shutout bid. The Rangers have more players (18) who have scored a game-winning goal than any other team.

Gonchar’s goal also kept Lundqvist from recording his league-leading ninth shutout of the season. Lundqvist now has 26 wins on the season, leaving him four shy of 30 wins for a sixth consecutive season.

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The Rangers scored all four of their goals at even strength last night — three in 5-on-5 action, and one in a 4-on-4 situation — and went 0-4 on the power play. Since acquiring McCabe, primarily for his strong shot from the point with the man-advantage, the Blueshirts have gone 1-for-15 on the power play in four games.

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The Rangers don’t have practice today before returning to the ice for tomorrow’s 12:30 matinee against the Flyers on NBC. They then head west for a two-game California trip, playing in Anaheim on Wednesday and in San Jose on Saturday.