MONTREAL -- New York Rangers star forward Marian Gaborik says his fight with Philadelphia Flyers enforcer Daniel Carcillo happened spontaneously, and he doesn't expect the two to drop the gloves when the teams meet again in March.
"It happened, and it is what it is," Gaborik said Saturday as the Rangers prepared to face the Montreal Canadiens. "You get in a zone and get mad and things like that happen. I don't think I'm the only one.
"You get into situations sometimes when you don't realize it's a guy like that, or you're in a zone and that stuff happens. So I wasn't really thinking."
Debate has raged over whether the other Rangers on the ice at the time should have stepped in immediately when Gaborik squared off with Carcillo during a scrum in the Flyers 2-0 victory Thursday. Sean Avery dropped the mitts with Carcillo later in the game.
Blueshirts coach John Tortorella, who said there was "no honour" in Carcillo fighting a skilled player, has reportedly told his players to step in any time an opponent wants to fight Gaborik, the team's scoring leader and offensive catalyst, even if it means taking extra penalties.
The incident has heated up the already intense rivalry between the Rangers and Flyers, who have three more meetings in the regular season.
"I'm still shocked it happened," Carcillo said earlier this week. "But fights happen and just because he's their best player doesn't mean he can't fight."
