Mats Zuccarello, Rangers forward, suffered brain contusion

New York Rangers winger Mats Zuccarello revealed that he suffered a brain contusion, which left him unable to talk for four days and ended his post-season run early.

The 27-year-old spoke to the media on Monday about the injury he received after taking a Ryan McDonagh slap shot to the head in Game 5 of his teams' first round series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. 

"I was in the hospital for three days," Zuccarello said after meeting with coach Alain Vigneault on the team's breakup day at their Westchester training facility.

"I couldn't talk for a while, had a contusion, some blood in my brain. That affects a lot. Now I go to speech therapy. I'm getting much better. I couldn't say a word for four days. I feel much better."

In addition to the head injury, he also lost feeling in his arm for a few days.

"... I lost everything," he said. "It was scary but the doctors were really good and made sure I knew that I was going to be healthy. After a while I was just happy to recover quickly."

Zuccarello is not completely healed, but is expected to make a full recovery. The Norwegian is hopeful that he'll be ready for the beginning of next season.