Wild place Mats Zuccarello on injured reserve with lower-body injury

On Friday, the Minnesota Wild placed veteran forward Mats Zuccarello on injured reserve with a lower-body injury.

Zuccarello was hurt during the Wild’s game on Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens. Near the halfway mark of the first period, he got in the way of a Brock Faber point shot that caught him in a very bad spot. Zuccarello labored off the ice after being looked at by a trainer and didn’t return to the game.

The Norwegian center was credited with 3:15 of ice time. Teammate Joel Eriksson Ek was also hurt in the contest, with his last shift also coming in the first period. The Wild stated afterward that a lower-body injury took him out, but the severity of his ailment is unknown.

Minnesota went on to pull out a 3-0 win, giving the team three victories in its last four contests.

Zuccarello had been off to a pretty good start thus far. In the first 16 games of the season, the 37-year-old has scored six goals and eight assists for 14 points, and had a three-game point streak going before it was snapped on Thursday.

Injuries had been hovering around Zuccarrello over the past few seasons. An upper-body injury caused him to miss a few weeks last year, with the former New York Ranger missing considerable time during the 2021-22 and 2018-19 seasons due to injury.

In 851 career appearances, Zuccarrello has scored 204 goals and 446 assists for 650 points. He has also notched 55 points in 96 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

The Wild (11-2-3) has been one of the pleasant surprises in the first month of the 2024-25 campaign. With 25 points and a .781 winning percentage, Minnesota is second in the Central Division behind the Winnipeg Jets.