Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jason Zucker made his 2022 postseason debut Saturday night during Game 3 of a first-round series against the New York Rangers.
Zucker missed the regular-season finale and the first two games of the series in Manhattan because of an undisclosed injury.
According to a team-provided lineup sheet, Zucker was to open the game on the third line as the left wing for Jeff Carter and Brock McGinn.
Limited to 41 games during the regular season because of multiple injuries, Zucker had eight goals and nine assists. He more typically played on the second line at left wing, but coach Mike Sullivan apparently elected to keep Danton Heinen in that spot along side Evgeni Malkin and Kasperi Kapanen.
Zucker took part in warmups before Game 2 but did not play in the 5-2 loss to the Rangers. Zucker is participating in his third postseason with the Penguins, for whom he has four goals and an assist in nine games.
He assisted on McGinn’s goal 1 minute, 57 seconds into Saturday’s game.
“Playoff hockey, there’s another level of intensity to it,” Sullivan said Saturday. “There’s a certain level of physicality associated with playoff hockey that’s different. It’s a high-stakes environment. Some of it is tangible stuff. Like guys that are more physical that thrive in that type of environment tend to excel. There are intangibles and that is the ability to perform well when the stakes are high. Jason has shown an ability to do that. He plays a north-south game, he’s good in the battle areas, he’s got some edge to his game and I think he embraces the playoff atmosphere. He embraces the physicality that is associated with playoff hockey. That’s one of the reasons why he has played as well as he has in the playoffs.”
Defensemen Brian Dumoulin (undisclosed) and Rickard Rakell (believed to be head) each missed a second consecutive game because of injury.
Two days after making his NHL playoff debut, Drew O’Connor was a healthy scratch.
A notable lineup absence from the Rangers was top-pair defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who has a lower-body injury.
