Thursday’s 4-1 defeat to the Minnesota Wild may have been Mats Zuccarello’s final appearance in front of the home fans at Madison Square Garden. Saying farewell to the popular forward would be a tough pill for Rangers fans to swallow, but most have accepted that the most likely outcome is no. 36 packing his bags and departing before Monday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline.
When Rangers fans reminisce about Zuccarello, eyes will become misty and there will be feelings of "what-if."
One moment of Zuccarello’s career changed the course of Rangers’ history. The 2014-15 squad was a strong one that narrowly missed out on a repeat Stanley Cup Final trip. The Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning entered the third period of Eastern Conference Final Game 7 in a scoreless deadlock.
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The Rangers would ultimately lose a tight contest 2-0 to the Lightning. An emotional Henrik Lundqvist struggled to bring himself to the handshake line after missing out on a second crack at a winner-take-all series for hockey’s ultimate prize.
Fans will continue to ponder how history might have changed if Zuccarello was healthy and on the ice for Game 7. A serious brain injury sustained against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 5 of the opening round ended Zuccarello’s playoffs. Of more serious concern was the Norwegian forward’s long-term health. A slap shot by teammate Ryan McDonagh connected with a net-crashing Zuccarello.
The injury initially caused Zuccarello to lose his ability to speak. He was unable to talk to the training staff after being brought back to the dressing room and four days passed before he could regain his speech. He lost feeling in the right side of his face, symptoms of dizziness continued for several weeks after. Close teammates Carl Hagelin and Derick Brassard visited him in his hospital room and broke down in tears when they witnessed their friend’s face full of wires.
McDonagh, who was serving his first season as Rangers’ captain, visited Zuccarello and described the forward’s condition.
“That one was pretty extreme, when you see 40 or 50 wires hooked up to his head,” McDonagh said.
It’s said that hockey is a game of inches. Inches can be the difference between goals and inches can change series. Pittsburgh defenseman Taylor Chorney’s contact contorted Zuccarello into a bent position. If the puck had struck Zuccarello in the shoulder pad, he would have never had to go through this ordeal and the Rangers may have well advanced to the Stanley Cup Final had he been participating in the 2015 Eastern Conference Final against Tampa Bay.
Had Zuccarello played in this series, it’s very possible that the Rangers would have faced the Chicago Blackhawks in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final. Who knows what would have happened from there. Brassard was on-fire with 16 points in 19 playoff games. Rick Nash recorded the strongest playoffs of his career with 14 points in 19 games. Derek Stepan collected 12 points in 19 playoff contests.
The Rangers were also getting strong production on the backend from a trio of experienced blue liners. Keith Yandle recorded 11 points in 19 playoff games, Dan Boyle chipped in 10 points in 19 playoff games. McDonagh tallied nine points in 19 postseason contests.
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Lundqvist was stellar between the pipes with a .928 playoff save percentage and 2.11 goals-against average.
This Rangers group was tough to beat even without Zuccarello. They came within a whisker of defeating a formidable Tampa Bay team. They finished the regular season 53-22-7 and captured the Presidents’ Trophy. No team in the league bettered the Blueshirts’ plus-60 goal differential.
Add a healthy Zuccarello to this mix and the Rangers might have been celebrating with a parade down the Canyon of Heroes that June.