Parise driven to help power Islanders in run toward playoffs

WASHINGTON --Zach Parise lights up when talking about the New York Islanders' push to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and their potential return to the postseason.

"It's been great," Parise said. "You miss it. You miss it when you're out of it for a year. Playing meaningful hockey at this time of the year, there's nothing better."
The Islanders can move another step closer to a playoff return when they visit the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday (7 p.m. ET; BSSUNX, MSGSN, ESPN+, SN NOW). After failing to qualify for the playoffs last season for the first time since 2017-18, New York (39-28-9) holds the first wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference, three points ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins, who hold the second wild card, and four points ahead of the Florida Panthers with six games remaining.
Parise has played a big role in the Islanders' resurgence. The 38-year-old forward is third on the Islanders with 21 goals in 76 games this season, including five in his past seven games.
It's Parise's 11th time scoring at least 20 goals in his 18 NHL seasons and his first since he scored 25 with the Minnesota Wild in 2019-20, but he said he doesn't view it as a rebound season.
"If you look back, I liked the way I played before that last year in Minnesota (2020-21)," Parise said. "Statistically, I did well. Then, whatever happened, happened. But the first year here and now this year, I've liked the way I've played. I do also understand I'm not 26. I know that, but I feel like I can contribute, and they've put me in spots to allow me to do that."

A Minneapolis native, Parise played nine seasons for his home-state team after he and defenseman Ryan Suter signed twin 13-year contracts with the Wild on July 4, 2012. But he had 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 45 games in 2020-21 and was in and out of the lineup as healthy scratch late in the regular season and in the playoffs.
Looking to get younger, Minnesota bought out the final four seasons on Parise's and Suter's contracts following that season, and Parise signed a one-year contract with the Islanders, the team his late father, J.P. Parise, played with for four seasons (1975-78). General manager Lou Lamoriello knew Parise well from their seven seasons together with the New Jersey Devils, who selected him with the No. 17 pick in the 2003 NHL Draft.
Though Parise started slowly last season, with no goals and four assists in his first 22 games, Lamoriello never doubted what he could add once he adjusted to the Islanders' systems. Parise rebounded to finish the season with 35 points (15 goals, 20 assists) in 82 games and, after signing another one-year contract, has carried that into this season, with 32 points.
"He's a consummate pro. He's always been that way," Lamoriello said. "Certainly, that came from his dad and the upbringing. He comes to play every night. From the day he stepped on the ice in New Jersey, it's almost like his motor never stopped. I think he's played on every line in every position since he's been here and it's never anything but, 'How can I help the team?'"
The first Islanders player to score 20 goals in a season at age 38 or older, Parise has done it the same way he has for much of his career: being relentless on the forecheck, winning puck battles along the boards and going to the net to score dirty goals. He has four power-play goals and is second on New York with two short-handed goals.
"I think you come in and you see how much he enjoys the everyday part of being in the NHL and how hard he plays every night, it's contagious," Islanders center Kyle Palmieri said. "You look at a guy who has had that much success over 18 years, and he comes in every day with a smile on his face and he's ready to work. You can learn a lot from guys like that."
A veteran with 877 points (429 goals, 448 assists) in 1,218 NHL regular-season games and 80 points (37 goals, 43 assists) in 105 playoff games, Parise has been through the ups and downs of a playoff drive before. And as a former captain with the Devils and alternate captain with the Wild, he has been an invaluable addition to the Islanders leadership group as well.
He's been among those to step up in the absence of forward Mathew Barzal, who hasn't played since Feb. 18 because of a lower-body injury, New York has gone 11-4-2 without Barzal with Parise contributing 10 points (six goals, four assists) in those 17 games. Only center Brock Nelson has scored more goals for the Islanders during that stretch with eight.
Parise has played the past two games on the Islanders' top line with Bo Horvat and Hudson Fasching.
"He's had some success putting the puck in the net, but his contributions go way further than offensive output," Islanders coach Lane Lambert said. "His penalty killing, his work ethic, it's a real a good thing for some of our young players to see a guy like that at that age come to the rink every day and work the way he does. So his professionalism has really, really helped our hockey team."
Though Parise's wife Alisha and three children have remained in Minnesota, they visit when school breaks allow, and he feels at home with the Islanders.
"Yeah, I love it," Parise said. "And you know what? I was wondering to myself that I was talking to a couple of other teams after Minnesota, and who knows, had I gone there and had a slow start there, it could have been, 'See you later.' But Lou has always been really good to me, so I attribute a lot to that."
And though he grew up in Minnesota, he has felt a connection to his father playing on Long Island. J.P. Parise, who died in 2015, is fondly remembered by longtime Islanders fans for scoring the overtime goal to win their first playoff series against the New York Rangers in 1975. J.P. (22 goals in 1975-76, 25 in 1976-77) and Zach Parise are the fourth father-son duo to score 20 goals in a season with the same NHL franchise.
"With how influential he was in my life and career, to share a stat with him, it's pretty sweet," Parise said. "Just because there's a lot of (Islanders) alumni that are here that are really involved, they always say, 'We knew your dad.' And we get a lot of people from Long Island that were fans back in the '70s too, and they talk about him. So, it's really neat."
Parise would love to help the Islanders have playoff success as his father once did. Having reached the 2012 Stanley Cup Final with the Devils before losing to the Los Angeles Kings, he remains driven to win the Cup for the first time.
Parise said he is going year-to-year at this stage of his career, so he wants to take advantage of the opportunity he has with the Islanders this season.
"There's really just nothing like playoff hockey," he said, "and to get the chance to play meaningful hockey at this time of the year where you're checking standings and every game is that important. You just don't know when you're going to get another chance, so it's great."