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Rangers don’t know severity of Zuccarello’s hand injury

Ice Hockey - Winter Olympics Day 9 - Austria v Norway

SOCHI, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 16: Per-Aage Skroeder #19 of Norway celebrates with his teammates Patrick Thoresen #41 and Mats Zuccarello Aasen #36 after a goal in the second period against Mathias Lange #24 of Austria during the Men’s Ice Hockey Preliminary Round Group B game on day nine of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Bolshoy Ice Dome on February 16, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.

Bruce Bennett

Mats Zuccarello couldn’t play in Norway’s 4-0 loss to Russia due to a hand injury. With that game ending his nation’s Olympic run, the question now is if he’ll be available when the New York Rangers resume their schedule on Feb. 27.

Unfortunately for the Rangers, they are still in the dark. They don’t know the extent of Zuccarello’s injury and that probably won’t change until the team starts practicing again on Thursday, according to the Bergen Record

If Zuccarello’s injury proves to be serious, it will have a significant impact on the Rangers’ plans going forward. He’s been a pleasant surprise this season with 15 goals and a team-leading 43 points in 58 games.

The team can’t really afford to lose the offense he’s been providing while they’re still competing for one of the fiercely contested playoff spots in the Eastern Conference. Consequently, Rangers GM Glen Sather might be motivated to acquire a top-six forward before the trade deadline if they will be without Zuccarello for an extended period of time.

Zuccarello has his left hand wrapped.

— Dan Rosen (@drosennhl) February 18, 2014

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