Popular ex-Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello off to fast start with red-hot Wild
Mats Zuccarello was a crowd favorite at Madison Square Garden during his nine seasons with the New York Rangers after signing with them in May 2010. He was an excellent complementary scorer who actually led the Rangers with 59 points in 2013-14, then contributed 13 points in 25 playoff games to help the Rangers reach the 2014 Stanley Cup Final. He also became the first Norwegian player to play in the Final.
During his time with the Rangers, Zuccarello won the prestigious Steven McDonald Extra Effort Award (as chosen by the fans) three times. The cries of “Zucc” from the Garden rafters were among the most common sounds at MSG during those years.
“He’s a great teammate, you know, guys like to play with him, he loves to have fun. To me he was kind of that annoying little brother,” Rangers goalie legend and former teammate Henrik Lundqvist said on a recent TNT broadcast. “He’s a great guy, great player.”
However, the Rangers faded during the late 2010s and traded him to the Dallas Stars in February 2019 as part of their rebuild. Zuccarello played two games before an injury cost him the rest of the season, then signed with the Minnesota Wild as a free agent that summer. He’s had the three best offensive totals of his career during the past three seasons, but at age 37, he’s on pace for his most prolific season yet — and he’s a big reason the Wild are off to a 5-1-2 start that included a sweep of the two Florida teams this past week.
The line of Zuccarello on the right side with Marco Rossi at center and Kirill Kaprizov on left wing carries the offense for the Wild. Zuccarello had the primary assist on the tie-breaking goal Thursday in a 4-2 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning with a perfect cross-seam pass to Matt Boldy, who one-timed it past Andrei Vasilevskiy for a power-play goal that put the Wild ahead to stay. He also had an assist in a 7-5 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, giving him at least one point in seven of Minnesota’s eight games.
Zuccarello also had a goal and an assist in a 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday; the assist made him the fastest player in Wild history to reach 200 – he did it in 330 games; the previous team mark belonged to Mikko Koivu, who had 200 assists in 400 games.
The goal in Florida was Zuccarello’s fourth of the season, a number he didn’t reach until Nov. 12 last season.
“Usually, I have four goals until Christmas, so it’s better now,” Zuccarello joked after scoring against the Panthers.
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Mats Zuccarello helps lead Wild to fast start
Kaprizov, usually a shooter, has often assumed the role of passer for his linemate — as he did in Florida, where he drew goalie Sergei Bobrovsky out of position and slipped the puck to Zuccarello, who put it into a wide-open net.
“He likes to shoot this year more,” said Kaprizov, a three-time 40-goal scorer who has assists on each of Zuccarello’s four goals; three were primary assists.
Zuccarello’s stats took a big jump after he and Kaprizov became linemates when Kaprizov joined the Wild for the 2020-21 season. He’s had two of his three 20-goal seasons and the three highest point totals of his career playing on a line with the Russian star.
They’re buddies as well as linemates. Kaprizov even found a way to play in a charity game organized by Zuccarello in Norway during the summer; the trip took a lot of juggling because Russians have been banned from flying into Norway on airplanes because of the war in Ukraine. But he got there.
Not many players have their best seasons in their 30s, but Zuccarello is one of them. He’s been so good that Wild general manager Bill Guerin signed him to a two-year contract extension last September that will keep him with the Wild through the 2025-26 season.
“It’s the energy, it’s the jam he brings every night,” Guerin said after the extension was announced. “He does everything. He sticks up for his teammates, he brings energy, he’s gritty, he makes plays. He does everything for the team.”
The Rangers know that well, because Zuccarello was all that for them, as well. The Garden Faithful must wait until April 2 to see their former favorite son this season, since the Wild play their lone game at MSG on April, near the end of the season.
So, for now, the love affair continues long distance.
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