It also made for an interesting discussion at home with his wife and two children, who saw their dad go to work a few hours earlier looking normal, only to come home later that night appearing anything but.
"Kids were a little scared. They didn't really know what was going on, they didn't understand why I couldn't open my eye," Parise said. "It's the same thing when you've got family members and friends watching and they see you on the ice, no matter what, it can be a scary thing. Fortunately, it turned out not to be anything too bad."
The next day, Parise was able to open his eye, gaining the relief of full vision in his eye. By Thursday, he was back on the ice skating during the team's morning skate.
After a brisk skate on Friday at Xcel Energy Center, Parise will accompany the team to Nashville and could be in the lineup when Minnesota plays the Predators at Bridgestone Arena on Saturday afternoon.
"I feel like I can play," Parise said. "I guess I'm planning on playing."
In addition to the eye injury, Parise also sustained an upper-body injury in the ensuing collision. While the eye benefitted from an extra day of rest -- it was still black and a bit swollen on Friday -- it was more the upper-body ailment that prevented him from playing against the Senators.
Parise, not surprisingly, would have liked to have played on Thursday. Fortunately, the team did him a solid, scoring a 5-1 win to keep its momentum alive with the regular season entering its final week.
"Hopefully he feels good enough to play [on Saturday]," said Wild coach Bruce Boudreau. "If he does, then he will."