Dallas Stars Lose Newly Acquired Mats Zuccarello To Broken Arm

Sometime teams just can’t catch a break. You can add the Dallas Stars to that list. The Stars acquired well regarded veteran forward Mats Zuccarello from the New York Rangers hoping to jump start their anemic offense. Zuccarello paid immediate dividends in his first game, scoring a goal and adding an assist by early in the second period helping Dallas to open a 3-0 advantage over the Chicago Blackhawks. Unfortunately, after that both he and the team caught a bad break–literally. Zuccarello broke his arm while blocking a shot from Blackhawks’ defenseman Connor Murphy late in the second period.

The ‘silver lining’ here is that Zuccarello is expected back in four weeks. It was a very clean break according to team officials and Zuccarello underwent successful surgery to insert a plate. This is a routine procedure to stabilize the area of the fracture hoping to help it heal faster. Stars’ head coach Jim Montgomery was short on details when speaking to the media on Tuesday but characterized the surgery as ‘very successful’:

“Very successful surgery, that part I know. But I am going to let the professionals speak about it; I just know that it was successful.”

General Manager Jim Nill said that the team wouldn’t look for a replacement for Zuccarello:

“Injuries are part of the game. You know they’re going to happen. We know we’re hopefully going to get him back in four weeks.”

Ironically, Zuccarello injured himself due to his fearless, team first style of play. He had left New York City at 5 am Eastern on Sunday in order to arrive in Chicago for the game that afternoon.

Zuccarello wasn’t the only injury for Dallas. The Stars will be without captain Jamie Benn due to an upper-body injury for at least the next couple of games. He will definitely miss Tuesday’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights though will stay with the team on their road trip.

Dallas is holding on to the final playoff spot in the Western Conference by a single point. They trail 7th place Minnesota by a point and are one point ahead of the 9th place Colorado Avalanche. They are 4 points up on the 10th place Arizona Coyotes.