The Minnesota Wild will be without the services of top scorer and alternate captain Zach Parise for at least one game, and possibly more. Parise, who found himself on the receiving end of a hit from the Nashville Predators' James Neal on Thursday, has already been ruled out of the Wild's Saturday game against the Tampa Bay Lightning by Minnesota head coach Mike Yeo.
Parise was injured on an awkward hit from Neal just over a minute into the first period of a game the Wild would eventually lose by a score of 3-2. Parise wound up taking about five more shifts after the hit before making his way to the dressing room. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported early Friday that Parise is set for an MRI to determine the extent of the injury.
MRI for Zach Parise today. Mike Yeo already said he won't play tomorrow. Hope it's not bad.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) November 6, 2015
"There's no excuses. The bottom line is obviously we're losing Zach, and we're probably going to lose some offense," Yeo told the team website. "Even as the game went on tonight. What does that mean? Does that me you push harder to try and score more, and then give up a little bit more?
"I thought we obviously didn't handle that situation too well."
After the game, Wild defenseman Ryan Suter accused Neal of playing a dangerous game throughout the night.
"He was running around all night," Suter said, per The Sporting News. "He hit Coyle. That was a pretty dangerous play in front of our bench. So, cheap, I don't know. Running around? Yeah. Reckless? Yeah. But I guess that's part of the game."
It certainly is, as are injuries. But neither the Wild, nor the NHL benefits from a player like Parise, who is near the league lead in scoring with seven goals in 11 games, being forced to ride the pine for any amount of time.
While the hit in question didn't look intentionally dangerous, it's clear from the video that Parise is obviously in pain after an awkward fall into the boards. The hope for the league and the team has to be that the 31-year-old star doesn't miss any significant time, thought its clear he's set to miss at least one game, maybe more.
