Details are a bit scarce at the moment, but something happened during the second period of the Wild’s 4-1 loss to the Penguins that made Zach Parise not return from the locker room at the start of the third period. At this point all the team has said is that Parise has an upper body injury.
Parise has an upper body injury. Yeo says further update tomorrow. #mnwild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 5, 2014
He took a couple hits in the early in the game, but nothing that sent him down the tunnel or looked like it hobbled him. Blake Comeau did catch him up high from behind in the second in a play that resulted in Comeau getting sent to the box for interference. Maybe it was that. Parise kept playing after that, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t injured.
Post-game, coach Mike Yeo didn’t have any details and said the team would update the situation today. As soon as the team has an update we’ll update this post with the most recent information.
No need for much analysis here. The seriousness of losing Parise for the Wild is quite obvious. It would be a big loss in the locker room and on the ice (and on the power play and it would really shake up lines and force Yeo to break up the only line that’s been together the whole season and…).
The severity of the injury should have some light shed on it immediately as the Wild head out on a three-game road trip that will take them through Ottawa, Montreal, and the Prudential Center in New Jersey. The team may announce whether or not Parise will be joining them on the road, giving an indication, at least for the next few games, of whether or not they think he’ll be playing in the immediate future.
More as soon as the team announces it.
Update:
Parise will not be joining the team on their upcoming road trip. He will be meeting with team doctors on Tuesday.
Yeo: Parise not on the road trip (upper body injury). Meeting with doctors today. #MNWild
— Minnesota Wild (@mnwild) November 5, 2014
Worth noting that the team is better off waiting for him to heal properly. Parise has previously rushed himself back from injury and made the injury worse, and left the team without him for longer than they would have been if they didn’t rush him back into the lineup.