Zucker maintaining strong start to season

ANAHEIM -- You'll never hear Jason Zucker talk about individual honors and awards. When he was named the NHL's First Star of the Week last month, Zucker sort of shrugged it off and smiled.
It's why you won't head Zucker trumpeting a desire for an appearance at the NHL All-Star Game next month, despite the fact his resume, as it currently stands, makes him a worthy candidate to play in the game.
"No, for me, we need to win games and that's what it comes down to right now," Zucker said Saturday. "Anything that I can to contribute to us winning games is what I'm going to do."

Zucker and his teammates practiced in Anaheim before boarding a plane to San Jose, where the Wild will finish a three-game California swing against the Sharks on Sunday night at SAP Center.
Minnesota went even on the southern swing through the trip, losing in Los Angeles on Tuesday before scoring an overtime win in Anaheim on Friday.
Zucker, as he has been virtually all season, was right in the middle of all the action. His goal in the second period got the Wild on the board and was the first of two goals in the span of just over two minutes, turning a one-goal deficit into a one-goal lead.

So many times this season, Zucker has been a catalyst the Wild has needed. His consistent production has helped keep the Wild afloat, especially during the first month of the season when it seemed every player in the Wild's top six went down with an injury.
He's also helped ease the loss of Zach Parise, who remains out following microdiscectomy surgery.
"Of course he should get attention; he's had 16 or 17 points in 17 games," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "And there's not too many guys at a point-per-game pace in this League."
Boudreau, who watched Zucker score a career-best 22 goals in 79 games last season, is witnessing a breakout campaign.
Zucker has already matched his career total of three power play goals through two months this season. Four of his 10 career power-play points have also come this season.
His 14 goals overall (entering play Saturday) rank him tied for 10th in the NHL overall.
"[He has the] experience when he gets the chance to score, more times than not, he's been doing it," Boudreau said. "But when he's using his legs, because that's his greatest asset, everything else comes with it."

Moving the puck

Boudreau said one of the things he really liked about the game Friday was the ability of the Wild's defensemen to move the puck up the ice efficiently.
It showed in the boxscore too.
Matt Dumba scored the game-winning goal while Nate Prosser assisted on Zack Mitchell's tally that gave the Wild the lead late in the second period.
"Whether it's hinging or not, we just want to continue that," Boudreau said. "Sometimes you do it once and then you forget about it and don't ever do it again. I just wanted to remind them of that."

Stalock on Sunday?

Goaltender Alex Stalock nearly got an opportunity to play against a former team last month in Toronto, but his wife gave birth and he went home to be with his family.
Facing another former team, Boudreau indicated Stalock might get a crack against the team that drafted him, the Sharks, on Sunday.
Stalock was a fourth-round pick of San Jose in the 2005 NHL Draft and played in 62 games with the Sharks between 2010 and 2016.
"Starting tomorrow night, we've got five games in eight nights, so we're gonna need both of them," Boudreau said. "Alex is gonna play whether it's tomorrow or whether it's Calgary [on Tuesday].
"But the storylines say it would be nice for him to play tomorrow."