Yeo splits up Parise, Koivu in their first exhibiton game

PITTSBURGH – A year ago, Zach Parise and Mikko Koivu were all but inseparable. There was never a thought in Mike Yeo's mind to split the Wild top-liners.

But just one training camp later, so much has changed.

Thursday night during a 3-2 overtime loss at Consol Energy Center, Parise and Koivu made their exhibition debuts against the Pittsburgh Penguins on separate lines and power-play units. It's early, but if all goes as planned, Parise looks like he'll start the season on the left side of center Mikael Granlund while Koivu will center free-agent acquisition Thomas Vanek.

The marriages got off to quality starts. Both sets teamed up for goals.

Nineteen seconds into a second-period power play, Koivu one-touched a pass to the goalmouth for a simple Vanek redirection. In the third period, after a terrific forecheck by Parise and Jason Pominville, Granlund beautifully set up Parise's goalmouth tap-in.

The Parise-Koivu parting speaks to the Wild's improved depth and the organization's confidence in Granlund after his solid sophomore season.

"[We] didn't have the options, and so now we've got them," Yeo said earlier this week. "We have more skill throughout our lineup, and I'm a big believer that skill guys need to play with skill guys and they need to have the right fit with them."

This would not even be an option if Granlund didn't prove to Yeo last season that he's capable of playing top-line minutes against an opponent's top checkers and defensemen. When Parise broke his foot and Koivu his ankle last season, Granlund stepped up his game. Then, once Parise returned with Koivu still sidelined, it gave Yeo the opportunity to see Parise skate with a different center.

Granlund and Parise quickly developed chemistry and largely stayed intact even after Koivu returned to the lineup soon after the Olympic break.

"We needed to see if Granny was capable of taking on a bigger role and being on a line and making sure he could produce," Yeo said. "If they didn't click, then it wasn't going to work for us."

In training camp thus far, Yeo has started to see chemistry between Koivu and Vanek, "so I want to give them a chance to continue to develop what they've shown they have."

That's music to Parise's ears. He says for a team to be successful, players need to learn to play with different players so during the course of a season adjustments are easier.

Plus, Koivu added, "In this league, in today's game, as we showed last year, you're going to lose some guys throughout the year. … It's good if you're able to jump in with different guys and know how they play.

"This is all about the depth we have as a team now. If you look at all the top teams, not just the Western Conference but the Eastern, too, they all have depth down their lineup. That's the thing that we need to build on and get everyone involved and try to find the best combinations."

The Vanek-Koivu-Fontaine line combined for seven shots. The Parise-Granlund-Pominville line showed flashes all night.

"I like the speed we play with," Parise said of his line. "I like how we attack off the rush and we support each other really well. We try to make a lot of 2-on-1s all over the ice. Not often do you see one of us alone trying to play it one-on-one.

"A lot of times we're cycling and attacking with two guys and we control the puck really well. Last year, we didn't spend a lot of time in our zone because we had the puck a lot. I think that'll continue."