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Just as things were looking up for Wild, they lose Parise

zparise

Injuries have already been an issue for the Minnesota Wild early in the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and health has been a regular concern for Zach Parise. The latest bit of news only makes things worse.

The Wild announced that Parise is “week-to-week” with a fractured sternum. Week-to-week sounds a little optimistic, so the Athletic’s Michael Russo provides a more specific timeline of six-to-eight weeks.

So, the Wild essentially lost Parise for most - if not all - of a possible playoff run.
[NBC’s Stanley Cup Playoff Hub]

Minnesota states that Parise suffered his injury during Game 3, but didn’t specify when, exactly, that happened. Russo believes that Parise was hurt during some of the late-game nastiness that’s typified much of the series, which the Winnipeg Jets leads 2-1 after the Wild showed fire in a Game 3 win.

TSN’s Michael Remis tracked down the collision(s) Russo referenced. Ouch:

The Wild were already dealing with a significant injury as Ryan Suter is sidelined with a fractured ankle suffered late in the regular season, an ailment that required surgery.

Parise already underwent back surgery in October, pushing his 2017-18 regular-season debut to early January. If that wasn’t enough of a shame for Parise, he has been playing well lately. The 33-year-old scored three goals in as many playoff games and generated nine points in his last nine games of the regular season.

It looks like Tyler Ennis will take Parise’s spot in Minnesota’s lineup alongside Mikko Koivu and Nino Niederreiter. In the likely event that sticks, it will be the first playoff appearance for Ennis since 2010-11 with the Buffalo Sabres. Ennis recently acknowledged his frustration with being a healthy scratch, so he’ll get a chance to prove himself starting tonight.

The Parise-less Wild host the Jets in Game 4 tonight on CNBC. Puck drops begins at 8 p.m. ET. Here’s the livestream link.


James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.