Fri Dec 21 15:50:39 2007

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Minnesota still wild about Gaborik

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(Sports Network) - Marian Gaborik showed on Thursday night why he is one of the most exciting players in the league -- when he can stay on the ice.

The lamp-lighting forward erupted for five goals in a 6-3 victory over the New York Rangers, adding an assist for a career-best tying six points. He scored a natural hat trick in a span bridging the first and second periods, and chased one of the top goaltenders in the league, Henrik Lundqvist, out of the game.

Gaborik became the first player in the NHL to score five goals in one game since Sergei Fedorov of the Detroit Red Wings accounted for all his team's tallies in a 5-4 overtime win over the Washington Capitals on December 26, 1996.

"I don't know, really," Gaborik said when asked if he had an explanation for his goal-scoring eruption. "I think everything was just flowing out there. I've been scoring this season, but it was time something like this should happen."

The Wild are still in the thick of the Northwest standings despite Gaborik being in and out of the lineup earlier in the year. Heading into play on Friday, Minnesota was even with Vancouver for first place in the standings with 42 points (20-12-2).

Gaborik's goal total on the year jumped to 18 after the offensive burst, and he also leads the team with 33 points after playing in 29 of the Wild's 34 games this season.

His presence was missed earlier in the year when a groin strain slowed him and even forced him out of the lineup for a three-game stretch from November 5-13, among a pair of other missed games.

Keeping him on the ice has been a problem lately. He skated in just 48 games last year, scoring 30 goals and 27 assists, due to groin strain, and he was limited to 65 games the previous year because of groin and hip ailments.

There is little doubt that Gaborik is a force to be reckoned with when on the ice. But if the Wild are going to take the next step this year, they need him there every game.