Back on ice, Wild’s Parise aims to keep dominating Coyotes

For the first time in his Minnesota Wild career, Zach Parise found himself in a strange place in the lineup Wednesday night.

A healthy scratch.

During the Wild’s 5-4 overtime loss to Vegas on Monday, Parise stayed on the ice for an extended shift that lasted 93 seconds, much to head coach Dean Evason’s chagrin. The Golden Knights tied up the game during the long shift, and Evason made one of the team’s alternate captains pay by putting him in street clothes Wednesday night.

Without Parise in the lineup Wednesday, the Wild lost 5-1 to Vegas, the top team in the West Division.

Now back on good terms with the bench boss, Parise will be on the ice Friday when the Wild (12-7-1) pay a visit to Arizona (10-9-3).

Minnesota has won each of its last three meetings against the Coyotes, outscoring Arizona 15-10 in that span. Parise has been a big factor in those wins, tallying one goal and four assists (five points).

In fact, the North Dakota product has always slashed Arizona throughout his career. He’s logged at least one point in each of his last four clashes with the Coyotes, which is the seventh-longest active streak against them.

In 26 career games against Arizona, Parise has racked up 12 goals and 12 assists (24 points) as well as a plus-minus of +11. From Dec. 15, 2007 to Dec. 11, 2015 — a span of 10 seasons split between New Jersey and Minnesota — Parise lined up against the Coyotes 13 times and found the scoresheet at least once in all of those contests.

That’s the longest scoring streak against Arizona among all NHL active players.

Minnesota hopes the return of Parise and a favorable matchup against the Coyotes can boost its power play. The Wild have scored just 8.1% of their goals on the penalty in 2020-21. If it continues its current pace, Minnesota would become the first NHL team since the 1952-53 Black Hawks to score fewer than 12% of their goals with a man advantage.

Luckily, the Coyotes have coughed up at least one power-play goal in six straight hockey games. That’s the longest active streak in the league, and the second-longest stretch this season.

The puck will drop between Minnesota and Arizona at 8 p.m. Friday night. Tune in on FOX Sports North, with “Wild Live” beginning at 7:30 p.m.

Statistics courtesy Sportradar