The injury news on Wild forwards Jason Zucker and Ryan Carter has gone from bad to worse.
Both were injured during Minnesota’s 5-3 victory over the Vancouver Canucks Tuesday night at the Xcel Energy Center and have scarred the Wild’s six-game winning streak.
The team says Zucker will miss three months with a broken clavicle and Carter will be out a month.
Zucker will have surgery on broken clavicle & miss 3 mos; Carter out at least a month http://t.co/coqYyxJ3ic #mnwild pic.twitter.com/VJkTD0pWUV
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) February 10, 2015
For Zucker the injury will bring a disappointing end to what has been a breakout season. He will undergo surgery on Thursday, 1500 ESPN notes it’s the second straight year he’s required season-ending surgery. Zucker underwent surgery last March to repair a tendon in his left quadriceps.
On Tuesday, the Wild announced that both players were placed on injured reserve. Forward Brett Sutter and defenseman Stu Bickel were called up from the Iowa Wild of the American Hockey League to take their roster spots.
Michael Russo of the Star Tribune reports that Carter was in a sling after the game and Zucker was also favoring his shoulder. Head coach Mike Yeo told reporters that both players shouldn’t be expected back in the lineup anytime “in the near future.” The injuries are being defined as “upper-body injuries.”
Zucker’s 18 goals rank second on the team behind Zach Parise’s 21.
Minnesota has gone 8-1-1 in its last ten games to move within three games of the Canucks for the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference. But are the Wild really a playoff team? Judd Zulgad and Jess Meyers broke it down on a 1500 ESPN video.
