Jason Zucker’s rematch ended after he missed 30 games of major muscle surgery against his former team in a shocking fashion. After the first period that saw Zucker get a nice video from Wild and also score an assist in the Penguins’ first goal, he left the game injured in a pile.
This video isn’t as hideous as the reverse view, which better showed Zucker’s legs curling up in splits but shows the damage done after a cross-check from Kevin Fiala.
I don’t care what you think of Jason Zucker’s time in Pittsburgh. He’s had terrible luck with injuries. Not real.
Serious and unnecessary injury from a vial. pic.twitter.com/t3CEXEAFP8
2022 Jim (SportsingJim) April 1, 2022
Zucker was frustrated for a while but eventually got up and got off the ice with the help of his teammates. He was not weighing down his right leg.
As they reported on the NHL Network after last night’s game, upon lip-reading it was apparent that the camera caught a coach saying one word, “thigh,” to Mike Sullivan on the bench as they lifted Zucker off the ice.
After the match, Sullivan gave a brief update that wasn’t exactly specific.
Mike added that he hopes nothing is too significant, “but we’ll have to wait and see how he responds overnight here.” https://t.co/aZAri2baTN
PensInsideScoop April 1, 2022
Sullivan doesn’t often share many injury details, but the team usually disclose injuries on a very long schedule, so perhaps no immediate diagnosis is seen as positive. If they had any news last night, it was probably pretty bad news.
Then again, it may not mean much after the game that there weren’t many details, but at least somewhat optimistic that the team is still hoping it isn’t “too important” at this point.
There was also another climax for Zucker after the match, in which the team celebrated his victory was awarded the best player in the helmet of the game by Yevgeny Malkin. Zucker was not seen on crutches in the least and was able to move quite a bit when he accepted the honors.
The end of the regular season for Pittsburgh is four weeks from today, with the playoffs kicking off next week. It remains to be seen how the overall prognosis will be revealed in detail regarding the new timeline for Zucker’s hip/leg injury. At this point, based on the immediate post-game information, the worst case scenario may have been avoided, although it only remains in question when Zucker is able to play next.
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