Zuccarello's departure after a jarring hit ignites a fiery response from teammates, leaving the Wild anxiously awaiting his status.
The Minnesota Wild (16-9-5) were back in action tonight against the Seattle Kraken (11-10-6) for one final road game before returning home.
Wild head coach John Hynes said before the game on Monday that there could be some game-decisions due to injuries.
Tyler Pitlick missed the game so the Wild went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.
In the same game the Wild lost another forward to an injury. Mats Zuccarello got blasted by Kraken defenseman Vince Dunn and did not return.
After the hit, Danila Yurov and Brock Faber rushed to Zuccarello's defense and get something going with Dunn.
“I liked our response in the fact we played hard and played smart,” Wild head coach John Hynes said. “That’s what you want to do in those situations. Answer with a little physicality of our own, but that competitive nature that makes this team good, and I thought we brought that.”
Yurov got a double minor for roughing.
Zuccarello, 38, missed the first 15 games of the season with a lower-body injury. He has played in 14 games this year, now 15, and has two goals and 12 points.
For a team starving for secondary scoring outside of Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy, this one could loom large if Zuccarello is out long-term.
Hynes did not have an update on Zuccarello's status after the game other than he saw him and he looks OK. Doesn't have a timeline yet.
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