Parise: Wild need to show willingness to do right thing consistently

With major summer acquisitions Zach Parise and Ryan Suter making their season debuts and top-tier prospect Mikael Granlund playing in his first game, the Minnesota Wild won their season opener and then followed it up with a 1-0 victory against the Dallas Stars on Jan. 20.

They haven’t won since and while that’s not cause for panic, certain aspects of their recent struggles are concerning.

Parise has done his part with five goals and nine points in five games this season. The 28-year-old forward doesn’t see a problem with his team’s system, but he added that the team needs to be willing to consistently do the right thing, according to the Star Tribune.

“It’s good for us to see it on video and watch a team like St. Louis,” Parise said following the Wild’s 5-4 overtime loss to the Blues on Sunday. “They play the right way. They kept making our D go back and retrieve pucks all night. They made it hard on our D and hard on our team. It’s good for us to see them doing it and see how well it works.

“It’s more important for us to not allow ourselves to keep making the same mistakes over and over again, especially in a shorter season. We have to recognize what we’re doing wrong, what’s not working, and start doing things on a more consistent basis. We haven’t seen that yet.”

Another issue for Minnesota early this year has been a lack of secondary scoring as Parise, Dany Heatley, and Mikko Koivu have netted 10 of the team’s 13 goals.

There’s also been criticisms of defenseman Ryan Suter, who ranks last in the team with a minus-five rating, but Wild coach Mike Yeo defended Suter and alluded to the fact that he currently ranks fourth in the NHL with an average of 27:44 minutes per game.

“He’s coming to a new team and a new system,” Yeo added. “He’s done so many good things, yet there’s still talk about some of the bad things that have happened for him. A lot of them, most of them, almost all of them are out of his control. With a guy like that, let’s be fair with our expectations.”

The Wild will look to end their current slump when they take on the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight.