Mats Zuccarello will be out week to week for the Minnesota Wild because of an upper-body injury.
The forward did not play in a 4-3 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday; he had no points in 16:55 of ice time in a 2-1 shootout win against the Vancouver Canucks in his most recent game Saturday.
Zuccarello leads the Wild in assists (22) and points (28) in 28 games this season and is second in power-play points (13).
"It was something that was kind of lingering a little bit, so we just got it checked out this morning," coach John Hynes said Tuesday, prior to Minnesota's 4-3 overtime win at the Boston Bruins. "So, that's the report. Obviously a real important part (of the team). He's played really good hockey, at least in my experience with him."
Zuccarello signed a two-year, $8.25 million contract ($4.125 million average annual value) with the Wild on Sept. 29 to avoid becoming an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
In five seasons with Minnesota, he has 246 points (78 goals, 168 assists) in 283 regular-season games and 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 23 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
The Wild are also without defenseman Jared Spurgeon (lower body), who has been limited to 13 games this season; earlier this season, Alex Goligoski missed 12 games with a lower-body injury.
"[Zuccarello is] a big part of the locker room," Hynes said. "But as we said before, I think that the guys that have stepped up on [defense] have done a good job. And now we've got to get the same effect up front."
The Wild (13-13-4) are seventh in the Central Division but have won eight of 11 games since Hynes was hired to replace Dean Evason on Nov. 27.
