After surrendering three goals to Marian Gaborik during the NHL’s 2012 All-Star Game on Sunday, goaltender Henrik Lundqvist sounded relieved to be reunited with his fellow Ranger.

“It’s always good to have your teammate back,” Lundqvist said after practice Monday, the team’s first following a five-game break for the All-Star game.

As assistant captain of Team Alfredsson during the league’s festivities in Ottawa, Ontario, Lundqvist passed over Gaborik in the All-Star draft – rival captain Zdeno Chara had puts dibs on his Slovak countryman – and may now be regretting the decision.

The 29-year-old sniper scored a hat trick and recorded an assist in Team Chara’s 12-9 win over Team Alfredsson to leave Canada’s capital with the game’s MVP crown.

“To be awarded MVP, it’s an honor,” said Gaborik, who played on a line with Marian Hossa and Pavel Datsyuk. “Just to be selected, to be part of it -- there are so many good players – it’s definitely an honor to be there. The whole weekend was a lot of fun. I enjoyed it.”

Gaborik’s stellar performance in the All-Star game came on the heels of an impressive first half of the season. The Trencin, Slovakia native, who has 25 goals and 14 assists in 47 games, has already surpassed last season’s 22-goal total and is on pace to eclipse his career-high of 42 goals.

Skating as the team’s top-line right wing, he has been the Rangers' most consistent forward while leading the Blueshirts to the top of the Eastern Conference standings.

Although elite center Brad Richards was inked to a nine-year $60 million dollar deal this July to coax the most out of Gaborik, the two have spent little time playing together. While Richards has fought through the peaks and valleys of his first season on Broadway, Gaborik has flourished with second-year pivot Derek Stepan.

Stronger both with and without the puck compared to last season -- a disappointing 48-point campaign -- Gaborik has bounced back to embody the star sniper the Rangers coveted in free agency during the summer of 2009.

“Hopefully, I can keep it up,” Gaborik said. “It’s a long year, but hopefully I can keep it up personally and we can, as a team, keep going.”

Rookie Carl Hagelin, who nabbed the Fastest Skater title during the weekend's skills competition, said he was thrilled to see his teammate dominate the star-studded event.

After playing on a line with Gaborik briefly before the break commenced -- flanking Stepan to the left -- he’s not at all surprised.

“He was so good. I was really happy for him,” Hagelin said. “He’s such a great player. He deserves that, for sure.”

Gaborik’s gaudy four-point effort came didn’t help his team secure two points. It won’t count toward his 2011-12 statistics. But thriving among the league’s elite? Coach John Tortorella thinks Gaborik can build off that.

“Absolutely. When you’re in that type of situation with the players they’re around and the people they’re around, it’s a great experience,” Tortorella said. “Nothing but good things can come out of that.”