Avery out of intensive care

Rickard Wallin (second from left) is the center of attention after scoring the winner for Sweden against Belarus. (Mathieu belanger/Reuters)

Rangers forward Sean Avery was transferred out of the intensive care unit yesterday, and remained hospitalized during recovery from a lacerated spleen.

There was no immediate word when Avery would be released from the hospital, Rangers spokesman John Rosasco said. The rugged winger had been in intensive care since he was injured Tuesday night, with doctors waiting for internal bleeding to stop. That occurred Thursday.

Avery, 28, arrived at St. Vincent's Medical Center in New York after the Rangers' Game 3 playoff loss to the Penguins. The forward is believed to have been injured during the early portion of the game, but played despite increasing pain.

Regardless of how far the Rangers advance in the playoffs, Avery's season is over. New York trails Pittsburgh in the best-of-seven series, 3-1, with Game 5 slated for today. The Rangers kept the series going with a 3-0 win Thursday night.

The Rangers were 33-14-10 with Avery during the regular season and 9-13-3 when he was out with injuries. He was acquired from Los Angeles in February 2007 and sparked a playoff run in which the Rangers went 17-6-6 in games he played.

Sweden survives

Patric Hornqvist scored twice and Sweden fended off Belarus, 6-5, in an opening preliminary round game of the world championships in Quebec.

Rickard Wallin deflected Nils Ekman's shot at 10:32 of the third period for the winner. Defenseman Magnus Johansson and forwards Nicklas Backstrom and Robert Nilsson, all in the NHL this past season, also had a goal apiece.

"Scoring six goals is not bad, but obviously we have to have better defensive play to compete against better teams," Wallin said.

Backstrom and Nilsson each added an assist.

Viktor Kostyuchenok, Sergei Zadelenov, Alexei Ugarov, Aleksandr Zhurik, and Dimtry Meleshko scored for Belarus.

In a Group C opener in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Mikko Koivu scored twice in leading Finland to a 5-1 win over Germany.

The US will face Slovenia tonight.

Game 4 on tap

The Providence Bruins enter today's Game 4 of the AHL Atlantic Division finals at Portland, Maine, with a 2-1 series lead. The Pirates beat the Bruins, 4-3, in overtime Friday night on Brendan Mikkelson's first goal of the playoffs. Tuukka Rask stopped 21 shots for the P-Bruins.

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