Back when Zach Parise played for New Jersey, he got a good piece of advice on how to rally from a 3-0 deficit in the NHL playoffs. It came from his father, J.P. Parise, who actually did it with the New York Islanders in 1975.
The elder Parise helped the Islanders storm back from a 3-0 against Pittsburgh in the second round, making them one of four NHL teams (in 184 such situations) to win a best-of-seven series after losing the first three games. "He loved talking about that,'' Zach Parise said of his late father, as the Wild forward contemplated his team's 3-0 deficit against St. Louis. "He always said, 'Win a shift. Win a period.' You have to break it down into small things.''
That simple yet sound wisdom reverberated in the Wild locker room Tuesday, as the team practiced at Xcel Energy Center before jetting to St. Louis for Wednesday's Game 4. While history tells them it is possible to rally, the Wild's own more recent past also gives the team hope.
The Wild earned a franchise-record 106 points in the regular season, leaving players confident they have the tools to mount a comeback. Coach Bruce Boudreau did some tinkering Tuesday, changing line combinations and outlining strategies to create more traffic in front of the net. But for the Wild to avoid the sweep, players agreed they must recapture the form that won 49 games in the regular season.
"We can't force a Game 7 tomorrow,'' Parise said. "We're a long ways away from that. Just win a shift, win a period, win the game, and then start over and try to do it again. We're in a deep hole, and that's the only way to get out.
"We can sit here and say, 'We're playing well. We're playing well.' But we're not winning. So we've got to do better.''
The Wild was eager to return to the ice Tuesday, after Boudreau gave the players Monday off. Many of them relaxed with their families, and Parise said the goal was for them to "let go of some of the frustration'' after racking up gaudy statistics and zero victories in the first three games.
Tuesday's practice emphasized getting bodies and pucks to the front of the net. To get past Blues goaltender Jake Allen, who has stopped 114 of 117 shots in the series, the Wild must obscure his vision. Parise said the team has to show more commitment to making things tough on the goalie, which means it must outmaneuver a muscular Blues defense that has done a superb job of controlling the area in front of the net.
