Mats Zuccarello out indefinitely after taking puck to the head
If the Rangers make it to Mount Doom err … the Stanley Cup Final, they may have to do so without forward Mats Zuccarello. The team announced Monday that the Norwegian Hobbit Wizard is out indefinitely after taking a Ryan McDonagh slap shot to the head in Friday’s Game 5 clincher against Pittsburgh. The team called it an upper body injury.
I ask this question. Would Frodo have let a puck to the head prevent him from throwing the one ring to rule them all into the fires of Mount Doom? The answer to that question is probably not. But then again, Middle Earth doesn’t have the same type of head injury protocol as the league. Plus, this looked pretty bad.
It’s not like Zuccarello has been lighting up the playoffs with two points in five games. He had 13 points in 25 last year during the Rangers’ Cup Final run. But it’s that old line of thinking around this time of year that depth plays a key role in a march towards a championship. And Zuccarello has been on the Rangers’ first line. And you know what? It’s never good to lose a top-end guy in the postseason.
Per the New York Daily News:
Seven players scored the Rangers’ 11 first-round goals.
“You can’t go anywhere in this league if you don’t have depth,” head coach Alain Vigneault said Friday. “You are going to get some players banged up now and then. You are going to need some guys to step in and play, and play important minutes and find ways to contribute. That’s just the way the NHL is. These playoffs are a battle of survival.”
But the good news for New York is that the Rangers said defenseman Kevin Klein is coming back form an arm injury that kept him out since March 11.
Injuries are a part of the game this time of year. It’s all about withstanding issues and then succeeding in spite of them. The Rangers are lucky they have a bunch of players like Zuccarello already in their lineup to lessen the blow.
– – – – – – –
Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY
