In Thursday’s 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins the Minnesota Wild have lost more than the game. The Wild may have lost Jason Zucker, who has been one of the team’s most dynamic players this season.
With less than 10 seconds left in the game and the Wild down two, Boston’s Matt Beleskey slashed Zucker in the back of the knee as he entered the zone.
Zucker immediately collapsed in a lot of pain. With the game coming to an end while he was still in pain, Zucker had to be helped off the ice and couldn’t put any weight on his leg.
Thankfully for the Wild, the Star Tribune’s Michael Russo tweeted out late last night that Zucker exited the trainer’s room limping badly, but without assistance.
Zucker just left medical room and limped badly into changing room, but he was unassisted
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) November 20, 2015
Watch a replay of the slash below.
Beleskey on Zucker:"I did slash him but … I didn’t try to break his leg and I don’t think it did either, so hopefully he's alright"
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) November 20, 2015
As the teams exited the ice it appeared that Zdeno Chara and Brad Marchand approached some players from the Wild possibly to apologize or make some peace, as the two parties didn’t appear to be barking at each other at all.
Zucker has a rough history of injuries, including knee surgery two seasons back after attempts at rehabbing the didn’t work. Last season he missed most of the end of the season when he broke his clavicle.
UPDATE:
Zucker won’t miss time, according to head coach Mike Yeo. He’ll be in the lineup against the Nashville Predators on Saturday.
Yeo says Zucker will be back in the lineup tomorrow #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 20, 2015
Additionally, as expected, Beleskey will not face supplemental discipline for the slash, according to CSNNE’s Joe Haggerty.