Wild's Parise out vs. Blues, Kuemper to miss four-game road trip
The Minnesota Wild will be short-handed heading into the opener of their four-game road trip.
Minnesota star forward Zach Parise (undisclosed) will not play in Thursday's tilt versus the Central Division-rival St. Louis Blues while goaltender Darcy Kuemper (concussion) won't travel with the team, coach Mike Yeo told reporters. Both players missed practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, but Yeo told the team's website that Parise will accompany the team and could play during the trek.
Via MinnesotaWild.com:
"You should not expect him to play (Thursday). ... He's out for (Thursday) and we'll play it by ear after that."
Despite reportedly suffering an injury in Sunday's practice, Parise appeared no worse for wear the following day when he recorded two assists in the Wild's 3-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. The 31-year-old Parise has scored 11 goals and set up 11 others in 27 games this season.
Veteran Niklas Backstrom is expected to back up Devan Dubnyk during the road trip in place of the 25-year-old Kuemper, who is 4-0-4 with a 2.13 goals-against average this season.
