MorningSkate-0104-7

ST. PAUL -- Now six games into his return from a microdiscectomy operation on his back, Zach Parise is looking more and more like the player of yesteryear.
He hasn't been rewarded for it yet with a goal, but his play -- along with that of his line's -- was outstanding on Saturday in a 4-1 win against the Winnipeg Jets.
After playing with Charlie Coyle and Chris Stewart in his first few games after coming back, Parise has played with Eric Staal and Tyler Ennis in recent contests. That line has created good chemistry, but has yet to light the lamp.

"There's nothing to show for it, but I think we're doing a really good job and hopefully we can break through tonight," Parise said before the Wild plays the Vancouver Canucks at Xcel Energy Center on Sunday.
It's taken Parise a handful of games to get comfortable on the ice again -- understandable after playing in just one AHL game since April before his return to the lineup on Jan. 2.
Wild coach Bruce Boudreau said he doesn't want to grade Parise on too sharp of a curve until the 10-game mark or so. But if Parise continues on his current trend, he should break through before then.
"He's starting to feel it a little bit I think," Boudreau said after the game on Saturday. "He made a really good play on [Minnesota's fourth goal]. … I thought they had some really good looks, so hopefully it's getting closer with him."
For Parise, some of the most challenging aspects of his comeback have involved puck possession. While you can skate and condition while training, possessing the puck can only happen in a game.
It's the aspect of his game he says has improved most in the games since his return.
Now, the goal is to get rewarded for the chances the line is creating and avoid getting too frustrated.
"You don't want to end up in the spot where you're not even getting the chances. That's when it gets really tough," Parise said. "But when you leave a handful of games in a row with great looks and you've got nothing to show for it as a line, it's good that you're getting the chances but it's frustrating that its not going in."
A few reminders prior to Sunday's game against the Canucks:
Here are the projected lineups:
WILD
Tyler Ennis - Eric Staal - Zach Parise
Jason Zucker - Mikko Koivu - Mikael Granlund
Joel Eriksson Ek - Charlie Coyle - Marcus Foligno
Daniel Winnik - Matt Cullen - Chris Stewart
Ryan Suter - Jared Spurgeon
Jonas Brodin - Matt Dumba
Gustav Olofsson - Nate Prosser
Devan Dubnyk
Alex Stalock
CANUCKS
Thomas Vanek - Sam Gagner - Brock Boeser
Daniel Sedin - Henrik Sedin - Sven Baertschi
Brendan Gaunce - Brandon Sutter - Markus Granlund
Loui Eriksson - Nic Dowd - Jake Virtanen
Ben Hutton - Chris Tanev
Alexander Edler - Troy Stecher
Michael Del Zotto - Erik Gudbranson
Jacob Markstrom
Anders Nilsson