At a pregame media session, Wild coach Mike Yeo confirmed that Zach Parise will play Sunday afternoon against Winnipeg at Xcel. Parise was expected to return after being activated from injured reserve earlier Sunday, but Yeo sprung a bit of a surprise when he said defenseman Marco Scandella could be back, too.

Scandella has missed the past two games with symptoms that appear to be mumps. He will skate in warmups, and if he feels OK, he will play. Parise will play on a line with center Mikko Koivu and right wing Jason Pominville.

Yeo said defenseman Jonas Brodin, another apparent mumps victim who was put on injured reserve Sunday, has been hit harder by the illness than Scandella was. "Marco's been skating," Yeo said. "He's been on the ice, and he's ready to go, as long as everything goes well in warmups."

As for Parise, Yeo sounded relieved to have the Wild's leading scorer back, with no apparent limitations. "I told him we'd probably get him a good, solid eight or nine minutes tonight," Yeo said, laughing. "He's been keeping himself in great shape, so I'm not real concerned about that.

"He's obviously a huge part of our team as far as a leader, and just the relentlessness he plays the game with night in and night out."

Niklas Backstrom will start in goal for the Wild, making his first start at Xcel since Jan. 11. The Jets will start regular goalie Ondrej Pavelec (7-6-2, 1.99 GAA, .928 save percentage), who will be facing a challenging situation. Pavelec played Saturday night in Nashville--taking the loss in a 6 p.m. game--and is making back-to-back starts for the first time in his NHL career. He made 27 saves in Saturday's 2-1 loss.

RACHEL BLOUNT