Rangers Daily: Zuccarello injury concern; Carolina controversy

TL;DR

Mats Zuccarello missed Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Playoffs due to an upper-body injury, reportedly from a hit by Tyler Myers. Concerns about a potential head injury have emerged, although the Wild have not confirmed this.

Key points

Mats Zuccarello missed Game 2 of the playoffs due to an injury.
The injury is an upper-body injury, possibly related to a head hit.
Zuccarello was hit by Tyler Myers during Game 1.
The hit has been described as 'dirty' by sources.

Mats ZuccarelloTyler MyersMinnesota WildDallas Stars

Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

If you tuned into Game 2 of the first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series between the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars hoping to see old friend Mats Zuccarello, you were surely disappointed. The popular former New York Rangers star missed the contest due to an upper-body injury.

More concerning is the nature of that UBI. Though no one from the Wild stated publicly that Zuccarello may have a head injury or even a concussion, The Athletic reported that the 38-year-old was hurt in Game 1 after he was on the receiving end of an elbow to the head from Stars defenseman Tyler Myers in the series opener.

Michael Russo’s source claimed the hit “was dirty.”

Zuccarello remained in the game and recorded three assists, the eighth player his age or older to have that many helpers in an NHL postseason game. With him in the lineup, the Wild skated to a 6-1 road win in the opener Saturday. Without him, the Wild played well, but lost 4-2 in Game 2. His status moving forward in the best-of-7 series is unknown.

As for other former Rangers appearing in the 2026 playoffs: defenseman Nils Lundkvist had a pair of primary assist for the Stars in that win over the Wild; Chris Kreider had an assist and logged 25:29 TOI for the , who blew a 3-2 third-period lead and lost the opener of their series to the on Monday.; and K’Andre Miller helped set up ’s 2 OT game-winner for the in their thrilling 3-2 Game 2 win over the .