GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- The New York Rangers said forward Sean Avery suffered a lacerated spleen in Tuesday night's Stanley Cup playoff game and will be lost for the remainder of the playoffs.
The team also denied a published report in the New York Daily News -- which first reported Avery's hospitalization -- that the forward had been taken to a Manhattan hospital while unconscious and in cardiac arrest.
The Rangers said Avery was admitted to St. Vincent's Medical Center following a CT scan and is expected to make a full recovery. Avery walked into the medical facility with team doctor Andrew Feldman, and the two took a car to the hospital, not an emergency vehicle, the team said.
Hours earlier, the Rangers lost 5-3 in the Stanley Cup playoffs against the Pittsburgh Penguins at Madison Square Garden. The Penguins took a 3-0 series lead with the win.
Avery suffered the injury as the result of a hit during the game, spokesman John Rosasco told reporters during the team's morning workout.
Avery's mother told the Toronto Sun that the injury occurred in the first period as the result of a collision with a Penguins defenseman and that he played the remainder of the game in a great deal of pain.
Avery played 14 minutes and 34 seconds of Game 3, taking 19 shifts on the ice. He finished the game before going to hospital, according to the team. He has seven points in eight playoff games this spring.
Avery, known for getting under opponents' skin with a chippy style of play, became a lightning rod for controversy during the first round when he tried to disrupt New Jersey Devils netminder Martin Brodeur by waving his arms and stick in the netminder's face. The unorthodox method of screening prompted the NHL to impose a new rule that warned similar actions by players would result in a penalty.
Scott Burnside is a senior writer for ESPN.com
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