Play of red-hot line leaves Boudreau with a good problem

ST. PAUL -- The smile on Wild coach Bruce Boudreau's face said it all. He knew the question was coming.
On the heels of arguably its best two offensive nights of the season, can he really break up his red-hot line of Zach Parise and Nino Niederreiter centered by Charlie Coyle?
"I can," Boudreau said through a grin. "Do I want to? We'll see."

If Mikko Koivu's return from a lower-body really is imminent, Boudreau could have an interesting dilemma once his captain is back.
Parise, Niederreiter and Coyle were a force once again on Thursday in a 5-1 win against the Florida Panthers at Xcel Energy Center.

Installed as a group during Monday's practice, the trio has been nearly unstoppable in two games this week. All three scored one goal in a six-goal romp against the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, piling up six points.
They might have been even more effective on Thursday.
Niederreiter scored twice and assisted on another goal while Parise tallied his 15th goal of the year and added an assist. Coyle didn't figure into the scoring but was an effective pivot all night, as each member of the line posted a plus-3 or better.

"We're having fun, they're buzzing we're moving our feet, we're talking all the time and we're getting the results right now," Parise said. "I think the offensive zone where we are supporting each other really well. I think Charlie's doing a really good job playing with speed through the middle in the neutral zone and it allows, when their defenseman try to squeeze us off, he's busting through the middle so we can do a little trip off the wall and he's going to get it."
The play of Niederreiter and Coyle in particular couldn't have come at a better time.
Each has gone through slumps at various points, but Niederreiter's lengthy goal-scoring drought seems like a distant memory now; he's got four of his seven goals on the season in the past three games. A notoriously streaky goal scorer during his career, it appears Niederreiter could be catching fire.

"I think for me, personally, probably confidence is obviously a big thing," Niederreiter said. "Staying on one side for quite some time for now, that's definitely helped my game a lot."
The Wild's jack-of-all-trades virtually his entire career, often flipping between center and wing at a moment's notice based on what a particular need is at any given time, Coyle said he wanted to make Boudreau's decision a difficult one by performing at a high level.
At a minimum, he's done that.
"That's what makes a good team, is when guys are out and [other] guys have to step up to the challenge and fill roles and get those opportunities," Coyle said. "I think that pushes the team to get better. That other guy will get better and it brings the whole team up."
Coyle's emergence down the middle has helped offset the hefty loss of Koivu to injury in a defeat at the hands of the Calgary Flames seven days ago.
The subject of a knee-on-knee hit by Flames defenseman Mark Giordano in the third period of that game, a hit that drew a two-game suspension for Giordano, Koivu has missed the past three games.
Koivu, however, has been on the ice each of the past two days and could return to practice on Friday. If all continues to progress, he might even see himself back in the lineup in a rematch with the Flames at Xcel Energy Center on Saturday.

If Koivu does make his return Saturday, or even if it's delayed until next week, Boudreau will have to decide if he wants to disrupt the chemistry being formed by Parise, Coyle and Niederreiter by inserting Koivu back between Parise and Coyle.
If he does, what does that mean for Koivu? If he doesn't, what does it mean for Joel Eriksson Ek? Or for Luke Kunin?

"We'll talk about it. I don't know if and when Mikko's going to play next. It's not a slam-dunk that he's going to play Saturday," Boudreau said. "I don't really have to worry about it until tomorrow at practice when the jerseys come out."
Whatever Boudreau decides, it's going to be a good problem to have... as long as the Wild keeps winning.
"It's a good problem to have those guys playing well. They're such a big part of our team and have been for the last five years," Boudreau said. "When you take two 20-plus potential goal scorers out of our lineup or they're not producing, it's a big hole. I'm] really happy to see that they've both started to skate and play a lot better."
**Related:**
[Postgame Hat Trick: Wild 5, Panthers 1