Zach Parise is playing for the Minnesota Wild against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup First Round at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.
Coach Dean Evason said the Wild had "a couple of game-time decisions" when asked who would replace forward Marcus Johansson, who broke his arm in Game 3 on Thursday, had surgery Friday and is out indefinitely.
Parise is the leading playoff scorer in Wild history with 34 points (14 goals, 20 assists) in 40 games and has scored 77 points (35 goals, 42 assists) in 101 playoff games during his 16-season NHL career.
But the 36-year-old forward was a healthy scratch for the first three games of this series after scoring 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 45 games during in the regular season.
He was a healthy scratch in three of Minnesota's last four regular-season games. He last played the regular-season finale May 13, a 7-3 loss at the St. Louis Blues.
"It's always tough to see a teammate frustrated and be put in a situation like that," Wild captain Jared Spurgeon said. "The thing is with Zach that he doesn't change, either. He comes in every day, works hard, and he's great around the locker room. He's always happy. Like I said, he's always working, so they see the energy he brings every day. Even the last game in St. Louis, I thought he was flying around out there, so we're looking forward to having him in."
The Wild had lost two straight after winning Game 1. Evason said it shouldn't be difficult for new players to jump into the series.
"I know everyone that's been skating clearly is in great shape," Evason said. "If anything, we expect them to be fresh and have the energy and provide us with jump and excitement and all of that good stuff. Hockey's hockey. Yeah, it's ramped up a little bit, but it won't take people long to get into it."
Teams that lead 2-1 are 362-154 (.702) winning a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series.
Here are 3 keys for Game 4:
