Zach Parise to miss at least first two games of Round 1

The Hockey Central panel previews the Stanley Cup Playoffs series between the high-flying Stars and Minnesota Wild.

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Minnesota Wild leading-scorer Zach Parise will miss at least the first two games of the playoffs and likely more because of an upper-body injury.

The Wild announced Wednesday that Parise is out “indefinitely.” Neither he nor fellow forward Thomas Vanek will travel with the team to Dallas. Game 1 against the top-seeded Stars is Thursday, Game 2 is Saturday and Game 3 is back in Minnesota on Monday.

Parise led the Wild with 25 goals in 70 games this season. He hasn’t been on the ice in eight days.

Vanek has an upper-body injury and has not skated with the team in 12 days. His status is “week to week.”

Also, centre Erik Haula has a lower-body injury. He’ll travel to Dallas and his status is “day to day.”

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.