Wild's Zach Parise hurt vs. Predators on awkward hit from James Neal
Minneosta Wild forward Zach Parise left Thursday night's game against the Nashville Predators after sustaining a lower-body injury on a hit by James Neal.
By
Chris Peters
•
1 min read
If there’s one player the Minnesota Wild can ill afford to be without, it’s Zach Parise. Coming into Thursday night’s action, Parise led the club with seven goals. He has also averaged just shy of 20 minutes a night for the club as Minnesota is off to a strong start.
That’s why Wild fans may be holding their collective breath a little bit Thursday. With the Wild taking on Central Division foe Nashville, Parise was on the receiving end of an awkward hit from Predators forward James Neal.
Parise didn’t really see the hit coming and never had much time to react. It looked like his knee buckled a bit on the check as Neal followed through. The Wild forward went down hard and remained on the ice for several seconds. The whistle eventually blew and Parise skated gingerly to the Wild bench. He was then assisted to the locker room.
When the Wild came back out for the second period, Parise did not return with the club. The team later announced that Parise would not return to the game due to a lower-body injury.
Here’s a look at the hit in question:
It’s hard to tell from the angles provided in the video where exactly Neal hit Parise. It doesn’t quite look like it’s from behind, but it’s just a weird angle. Since Parise was bent over, Neal didn’t really have a chance to hit him solidly and the end result looks like their legs collided. It’s an awkward collision, but doesn’t appear dirty on Neal's part.
No matter how it happened, losing Parise for any amount of time would be bad for Minnesota. The sparkplug forward can do a little bit of everything for the WIld and has over parts of the last four seasons. Last season, Parise put up 33 goals and 62 points.
