"Before coming out of the lineup last Wednesday night in New Jersey, Scott Gomez had played 10 games with an ankle stress fracture he sustained when struck by a puck in Detroit on Oct. 18, The Post has learned.

Gomez, who missed his fourth straight game last night when the Rangers and Canucks met at the Garden, learned the nature of his injury after undergoing an MRI exam on Nov. 7. The center then played two more games before finally yielding to pain he had been playing through and a groin pull he suffered in adapting to skating with the injury.

On Tuesday, Gomez went for acupuncture treatment. He did not skate yesterday, but is expected to skate on his own today for the third time since leaving the lineup. If all goes well, he might practice with the team on Friday. Though it's extremely unlikely he will return for Saturday afternoon's game in Ottawa, there's an outside chance that he might be able to play Monday at the Garden against the Coyotes.

"Scotty said that the ankle feels a lot better today after the acupuncture," coach Tom Renney said after this morning's optional skate. "Jaromir [Jagr] went for acupuncture treatments a lot last year, too, and found it quite beneficial.

"It's fine with me. Going to a witch doctor is good with me if it gets Gomer back on the ice."

Gomez had seven points (2-5) in his first eight games, including the 5-4 overtime defeat in Detroit in which he was injured. He had six points (1-5) in the 10 games he played with the injury, including just two points (0-2) in his past six games when he began to labor noticeably. "