Rangers Vs. Lightning: Mats Zuccarello Resumed Skating This Morning

Prior to their Game 2 matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning, the New York Rangers received some encouraging news about Mats Zuccarello's health. The initial report came from Chris Johnston, who tweeted out that Zuccarello skated this morning at Madison Square Garden. With tons of people looking for further clarification, the Rangers responded with an official team release about 30 minutes later.

#NYR @zuccarello36 skated lightly on his own today. No change in his status, remains sidelined indefinitely.

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 18, 2015

Light skating or not, this is extremely encouraging to see Zuccarello back on the ice, even though it was just a light skate. When Zuccarello left Game 5 against the Pittsburgh Penguins, everyone feared the worst and unfortunately those realizations eventually came true. A few days later, the Rangers announced that Zuccarello would be out indefinitely, and there was a sense that he could be done for the year based on how bad the injury initially looked.

There was never any confirmation on what sidelined Zuccarello, but based on where the puck hit him, the general consensus was a concussion. Zuccarello is likely still a long way from stepping back into game action, but this is the first positive update we have heard in quite a while and it's awesome to see.