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NASHVILLE – Mats Zuccarello is a simple man.
The Dallas Stars striker, acquired New York Rangers on Feb. 23, said he had not much in his apartment. He does not need anything beyond the basics.
"You have a TV, a sofa and some clothes, that's all you need," Zuccarello said. "All you do is hockey, I'm here to play hockey and have fun with it."
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The singular attention is no more than a bonus for Zuccarello, who scored his first goal in the Stanley Cup qualifiers. 3-2 victory of the Stars against the Nashville Predators in the first game of the first round of the Western Conference on Wednesday.
The Stars shared the first two games of the top-7 series in Nashville (the Predators won 2-1 in overtime at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday). Dallas hosts the third game at the American Airlines Center on Monday at 9:30 pm (NBCSN, TVAS, SN, FS-SW, FS-TN).
Zuccarello, who has collected three points (goal, two badists) in two regular season games with the Stars and 37 points (11 goals, 26 badists) in 46 games with the Rangers, gives the Stars more talent and depth to the # 39; before. He also brings a playoff experience. Zuccarello had 32 points (12 goals, 20 badists) in 62 Stanley Cup playoff games, from third to first place Andrew Cogliano (66 playoff games) and defender Ben Lovejoy (65 playoff games) in the playoffs on the Stars.
To the front Tyler Pitlick Zuccarello's game is "sneaky".
"It looks like he's not doing much, because he's so calm and smart and he's in the right position," Pitlick said. "Then he picks up the puck and plays, and it's like, wow, he takes you off guard, that's why I think he's so good." He looks so calm, then he makes a pbad that you do not even think you're there, but he can also shoot the puck. "
Stars ahead Tyler Seguin Zuccarello, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, is the team's leading pbader.
"He sees the ice like the guys can not and when we're with him – even if I only played four times [in the regular season] with him – I will always be ready. Because you may not know that the puck is coming, but it's a guy who can make this game happen. "
Video: DAL @ NSH, Gm1: Zuccarello sweeps the rebound at home
The first day of Zuccarello with the Stars was memorable. He arrived in Chicago on February 24 in the morning and had a goal and an badist in the Stars' 4-1 win against the Blackhawks that night. But he had a broken arm by blocking the Blackhawks defender Connor Murphyshot at the end of the second period and missed the next five weeks.
As frustrated as he is by the injury, Zuccarello said he was "super happy" emotionally when the exchange to Dallas was over.
"I knew for a long time [a trade] Zuccarello said: "It is always sad to leave when you have been in a place for so long and that we know everyone. But as soon as I knew I was coming here, it was a relief. Finally, I can focus on hockey. Since I'm here, it's amazing. Everyone is super nice, great team, playoff hockey. I do not think about that [trade] at all now. I look forward to what we are going to do now. "
Zuccarello focuses solely on hockey, especially at this time of year. He has proven himself in the playoffs and the Stars hope to take advantage of this experience.
"In the playoffs, you need guys able to play and play breakers, and I think that's one of those players," Cogliano said. "He makes people better around him and he's a guy who plays games.
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