Zach Parise’s Wild resurgence continues

Few Wild forwards have lived up to expectations this season, but Parise's revival is one of the reasons they've remained in the playoff mix anyway. The 34-year-old winger leads Minnesota with 21 goals in 52 games, and is on pace for his first 30-goal season since 2015. He did it all in a shootout loss to Buffalo on Tuesday, firing a game-high 10 shots on goal in 22 minutes of action and forcing overtime with a goal at 18:23 of the third period.

Towns seemed to be letting off some steam when he brought the hammer down on poor Mason Plumlee on Saturday. That he might be frustrated isn't particularly surprising. Snubbed in the All-Star fan vote and dogged by questions about his toughness, Towns has been on a tear in recent weeks. He's averaging 24.8 points, 11.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game under interim head coach Ryan Saunders, and was named an All-Star reserve last week.

Thursday's trade deadline is approaching, as is a major crossroads for the Wolves this season. Do they continue pushing for the eighth seed, or ship out a few veterans and build for the future? Wiggins is making the case for the latter approach. He's averaging 11.3 points over the Wolves' last three games, and shooting just 27.7 percent over that span.

The Lynx got some great news over the weekend: Seimone Augustus is returning for a 14th season. That's good, because the news on Tuesday was significantly less rosy. Maya Moore, five-time All-Star and former MVP, is sitting out the 2019 season to devote more time to her family and her faith. The Associated Press reports that Moore signed a long-term contract before announcing her decision, but the upshot to all of this remains daunting: The Lynx will have to try and contend without one of the best players in WNBA history this season.

Is there a higher honor in the State of Hockey than your own, super-custom NHL jersey? The Wild announced Tuesday that they'll be honoring the Twins great on Feb. 12 with these slick Twins/Wild hybrids, which will then be auctioned off for charity. Mauer and his family will also take part in the usual pregame festivities. "Ah, jeez… let's… uh… let's play hockey."

Okogie was slapped with a loose-ball foul with 0.1 seconds remaining and the score tied Tuesday. Justin Holiday made both free throws, and the Grizzlies beat the Wolves 108-106. We're not going to hold that against the rookie, who has been an otherwise fine starter in the absence of Robert Covington.