The Minnesota Wild are down a captain, but for how long?
Wild winger and team leader, the heart and soul of the club – as noted by Michael Russo – didn’t practice Wednesday because of an upper-body injury he suffered in Tuesday’s 4-1 loss to the high-powered Pittsburgh Penguins. How much time the star could miss is unknown, but head coach Mike Yeo announced Wednesday that Parise will miss the team’s upcoming three-game road trip.
Yeo: "We're going to have to respond. They're not going to feel sorry for us. There will be guys given new opportunities." #MNWild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 5, 2014
Yeo said Parise won't go on the road trip. Meeting with doctors today to see how to go forward. No timeline right now.
— Brian Hall (@MNBrianHall) November 5, 2014
The Hockey Writers point out the fact that Parise is the Wild’s leading scorer. Through 11 games, he has four goals and six assists.
Minnesota’s road trip begins Thursday against the Ottawa Senators. They play the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday and Parise’s former team, the New Jersey Devils, next Tuesday.
Parise suffered the injury in one of the first two periods against the Penguins. He did not play in the third period. With Parise out, the Wild will have to shake up their line combinations.
#MNWild lines without Parise:
Vanek-Granlund-Pominville
Zucker-Koivu-Coyle
Niederreiter-Haula-Fontaine
Veilleux-Carter-??????— Chad Graff (@ChadGraff) November 5, 2014
