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Mats Zuccarello injured after taking slap shot to face in Game 5

Friendly fire took down a New York Rangers scorer.

by Patrick Iversen
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Rangers' quest to vanquish the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 5 on Friday had to move forward without one of their important forwards.

Winger Mats Zuccarello suffered an upper-body injury in the first period when a slap shot from teammate and captain Ryan McDonagh connected with his face as Zuccarello became traffic in front of the net. Zuccarello left the game and did not immediately return for the second period.

The Rangers announced shortly after the second period began that Zuccarello wouldn’t return to the game. After a 15-goal, 49-point regular season campaign, Zuccarello had managed to rack up only two assists in the playoffs before his injury.

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