NHL 2010-11 Rewind: Gaborik 4, Toronto 0

The next in a series of blogs reviewing some of my favourite moments from the just-completed 2010-11 National Hockey League season:

It was another night when the frustratingly hot and cold 2010-11 season for Slovakian-born New York Rangers superstar Marian Gaborik went from ice cold to red hot in the most resounding fashion imaginable. The victims? The Toronto Maple Leafs, who had the misfortune to turn up to the World's Most Famous Arena just in time to run smack-bang into Gaborik's most dominant effort of the season. His new line mates, Artem Anisimov and Sean Avery, benefited nicely, recording 4 and 3 assists respectively.

When all was said and done, the Slovakian sniper, who had not lit the lamp in his previous eight games and had recorded only three goals and six assists in 19 games since his previous hat trick against the New York Islanders on December second, had four goals (and an assist) in the 7-0 rout, so reminiscent of the similar drubbing that the Rangers had put on the Washington Capitals a month or so prior. Gaborik’s three hat tricks were the most for the Rangers since the great Czech skater, Jaromir Jagr, had three in the 2005-06 season.

On a night when it was suggested that the Rangers offense would struggle without regular spark plug and unofficial leader, Brandon Dubinsky, the Alaskan native out due to a stress fracture in his left leg, Gaborik was a sensational +3 on the night, scoring four goals and an assist on seven shots, carrying the team on his shoulders. On the flip side, the best Leafs skater was a measly even 0 rating. 

Until Johann Franzen scored five goals in a Red Wings 7-5 victory over Ottawa a number of weeks later, this was the most dominant game of the season, the sort of performance by Gaborik that some had suggested was unique to games against the New York Islanders. Not on this night. Gaborik had two of the four first-period NYR goals, then completed his four-spot with two goals less than three minutes apart in the second. It was all over, bar the shouting. Mats Zuccarello's third period tally was the icing on a very delicious cake for Ranger fans.

The struggle for the season, for Gaborik, was replicating those sudden and scintillating performances into an even spread across eighty-two games. The hope for long-suffering Ranger fans is that the added firepower of Brad Richards, the prized free agent acquisition of the summer, will allow that to happen.