Stars winger Mats Zuccarello made a surprise return for Tuesday night's critical game against Philadelphia, ending an absence of more than five weeks after breaking his arm in his first game with Dallas.
Zuccarello participated in warmup and line rushes before the game Tuesday, the first time since he broke his arm blocking a shot Feb. 24 at Chicago. He skated on a line with Jamie Benn and Roope Hintz on the night the Stars could clinch a playoff spot with a point against the Flyers.
Zuccarello missed 17 games with a broken right arm suffered the day after the Stars traded a pair of conditional draft picks to the Rangers for the Norwegian winger.