Return of Mats Zuccarello a step toward making the Wild whole

While watching the Wild struggle out of the gates this season fans of the club could comfort themselves by looking ahead a little bit We ll be OK when Mats Zuccarello gets back they could tell themselves Or the faceoffs will be less of an issue when we get Nico Sturm John Hynes couldn t play that battle You re aware of when players are going to come back but in this league and in this job you have to be so focused on the present the Wild coach disclosed Tuesday The Wild went into Tuesday s event against the San Jose Sharks at Grand Casino Arena having won four of their past five games to get themselves out of an early funk The last two games included Zuccarello who missed the first games after having surgery to repair a lower body injury I tried not to do the surgery but at certain point it s just better to do it and come back and try and get healthy for the rest of the season rather than playing hurt the whole season Zuccarello declared after Tuesday s morning skate at TRIA Rink It s unfortunate but it s part of the match Playing his seventh season in Minnesota Zuccarello was missed during a - - start Even when he isn t scoring goals he is making the other players on his line better and his vision on the ice particularly as it pertains to setting up Kirill Kaprizov is preternatural In his previous four seasons in Minnesota he averaged assists He had one in his first battle back a - achievement in Long Island last Friday and was back on the top line with Kaprizov and center Marco Rossi for Sunday s - preeminence over Calgary in St Paul Hynes would have liked Zuccarello to start the season but he couldn t spend time dreaming of his return Same with center Sturm out with an upper body injury and defenseman Zach Bogosian week to week with a lower body injury It s the guys that you have not the guys you don t have Hynes disclosed That s all you can control You try to get the unit prepared with the players you have available to you that night against that opponent Sturm has been skating on his own for a sparse days and Bogosian started on Tuesday Bogosian remains week to week Hynes mentioned but Sturm could return as soon as the end of this month Zuccarello noted he had a productive and healthy summer but when he began skating in training camp I kind of felt something that wasn t right The veteran right wing revealed he had surgery for a similar injury four or five years ago I guess it didn t work he quipped Zuccarello s sense of humor clearly didn t suffer during his rehab Tuesday s comments were his first since returning to the lineup and he was questioned if he missed the media Of class he noted every day That s why I worked hard to get back Briefly Wing Marcus Johansson played his th NHL event in Sunday s win over Calgary but was feted before Tuesday s battle against the Sharks presented with a custom silver hockey stick created by Logan Sports Group of East Gwillimbury Ontario Defenseman David Spacek was called up from AHL Iowa on Tuesday but didn t make his NHL debut a healthy scratch Related Articles Wild goaltender Jesper Wallstedt finding his legs in NHL Hot Marcus Johansson at the center of Wild s - accomplishment over Flames Wild pair heaviest hitters on bad-ass line Reunited Wild lineup clicks start to finish on Long Island Wild expect a boost from Mats Zuccarello s return