For the second day in a row, Wild assistant coach Darby Hendrickson went above and beyond his normal duties. He put on the pads and practiced to fill out the third line, allowing the Wild to have nine forwards for Tuesday's practice at Xcel Energy Center.
Coach Bruce Boudreau had no update on Zach Parise's recovery from an undisclosed injury, a day after Parise left the ice midway through Monday's practice when he experienced what the team is calling "a setback.'' Parise is scheduled to see a doctor Wednesday. Granlund (groin) is continuing to skate on his own and is "a possibility'' to return to practice Thursday and perhaps rejoin the lineup for this weekend's trip to Winnipeg and Calgary.
Marcus Foligno (broken facial bone) should resume practicing "for sure'' on Thursday, Boudreau said, and the coach is hopeful Foligno will be ready to play Friday.
Hendrickson skated with Daniel Winnik and Joel Eriksson Ek on Tuesday and made it through a one-hour practice just fine, including skating at the end. Matt Cullen practiced at wing on the top line with Eric Staal and Tyler Ennis. Boudreau cautioned not to read too much into that; he simply wanted to get Eriksson Ek back at center.
"I give (Hendrickson) full kudos for putting the stuff on and going out there and trying,'' Boudreau said. "And for a guy that's done it for two days and hasn't been playing for 10 years, he's done a pretty good job.''
(The photo on our Wild page is of Hendrickson scoring the first goal in team history in 2000.)
The Wild is off Wednesday. Thursday, it plans to bring up some forwards from the AHL affiliate in Iowa to get in a practice before Friday's game at Winnipeg.
