MINNEAPOLIS — Mats Zuccarello was out for Game 2 against the Dallas Stars on April 18 with an upper-body injury, leaving the Minnesota Wild without the playmaker who sparked their Game 1 win. He skated at morning skate but did not join the warmup line rushes before the puck dropped.
Vladimir Tarasenko took Zuccarello’s place on the top line, while Bobby Brink entered the lineup for Game 2. Nick Foligno moved from the fourth line to the third line with Danila Yurov and Brink, and Marcus Foligno skated on the fourth line with Yakov Trenin and Michael McCarron.
The absence landed after Zuccarello had three assists in Game 1 and finished the 2024-25 regular season with 15 goals, 39 assists and 54 points in 59 games. For Minnesota, the timing mattered because the Wild entered the night leading the series 1-0 and were trying to take a 2-0 series lead for the first time in franchise history.
The injury was likely tied to an elbow to the head by Tyler Myers, a play that drew attention because of the force involved and the immediate consequence for Minnesota’s top unit. One post from the incident said Myers caught Zuccarello with the elbow and took a two-minute penalty.
That left the Wild to chase their first 2-0 series lead with a changed look and without the winger who had been central to their attack two nights earlier. If Minnesota is going to turn the opening edge into control of the series, it will have to do it without the player who helped build it.
