ST. PAUL, Minn. — This was supposed to be a night to celebrate for Jason Zucker, with his friends and family in the building, cheering him on as he returned to both the Pittsburgh lineup and the place he called home for nearly a decade.
But midway through the second period Thursday, Xcel Energy Center went eerily quiet as the veteran forward, a fan favorite here in Minnesota, writhed in pain on the ice after a dangerous hit near the boards by the Wild’s Kevin Fiala.
Concerned teammates looked on for about a minute until Zucker was helped to his feet. With Zucker unable to put weight on his right leg, Sidney Crosby and Mike Matheson helped him get to the bench then he limped down the tunnel.
Zucker, back in the Penguins lineup after missing 30 games, did not return.
The Penguins would win, 4-3, in overtime. But they may have suffered another long-term injury to a key player with the start of the playoffs a month away.
As the puck wrapped around the boards, Zucker had position on Fiala, boxing him out so he could scoop it up. But Fiala gave him a nudge from behind and Zucker lost his footing and slammed awkwardly into the wall. He stayed down as the Penguins went the other way, with Rickard Rakell scoring to make it 3-1.
The referees whistled pretty much everything Thursday. But not that play.
In pain and presumably in disbelief, Zucker headed to the dressing room with an injury that could once again sidelined the winger for a significant period.
Unfortunately, that was a familiar scene for Zucker, who has missed a sizable chunk of each of the last two seasons due to injury. That has been a primary reason why Zucker has been unable to live up to lofty expectations with Pittsburgh.
Prior to Thursday, Zucker had played just one game in 2022 due to a core muscle injury, which needed to be surgically repaired on Jan. 25. Zucker started skating on an individual basis in early March and returned to practice on Saturday.
After Zucker made it through Thursday’s morning skate at Xcel Energy Center with no issues, coach Mike Sullivan declared he would play later that night.
“Zuck can be invaluable to our team,” Sullivan said. “He’s just a good player on both sides of the puck. He makes us harder to play against. He’s a gritty guy. He’s good in the battle areas. He’s hard at the net front. He’s an important player for us. To get him back makes us a better team in so many different ways.”
Zucker skated on the second line with Evgeni Malkin and Rakell, the latter of whom scored twice Thursday. He picked up a point in his first shift of the night.
Zucker patiently played with the puck in the right circle before banking a pass back to John Marino at the point. Rakell redirected his shot past Cam Talbot.
Moments later, during a TV timeout, the Wild aired a tribute video to their former 30-goal scorer. Thursday was his first game back in Minnesota since the Penguins traded for him in February of 2020. Zucker politely waved to the crowd.
“It’s exciting to be back,” he said after the morning skate, with several Minnesota reporters on hand to chronicle his return. “It seems crazy that it’s been this long. But it’s always good to be back in this building. A lot of good memories.”
He also expressed excitement to get back on the ice for the Penguins so he could, better health permitting, make more of an impact than he had to date.
“The injuries for me, personally, haven’t really helped the situation. … So hopefully I can get past this and start playing some hockey,” the 30-year-old said.
The Penguins scored twice in the first half of the second to take a 3-1 lead.
Jake Guentzel, who grew up a few miles from Xcel Energy Center, buried a rebound on the power play. They have scored at least one power-play goal in six straight games. Kris Letang earned his 500th career assist on that Guentzel goal.
Then Rakell got his second goal of the game and third with the Penguins.
Former Penguins forward Freddy Gaudreau got the Wild back within a goal late in the second period. Early in the third, Kirill Kaprizov slashed through the slot to blast a one-timer past Casey DeSmith, who made his first start in eight days.
Malkin beat Talbot for the winning goal with 1:03 remaining in overtime.
The Penguins will conclude their two-game road trip Saturday at Colorado.
