ST. PAUL, Minn. — Jordan Schroeder lost count of how many family and friends will be in a private box his father purchased to watch the former local high school and University of Minnesota star make his first NHL appearance tonight at the Xcel Energy Center.

"Maybe 20, maybe more," said the Vancouver Canucks centre. "It's just another game, but it's obviously exciting because my family and friends haven't seen me play live. But I've got to push that aside and I want to be able to contribute every night and be responsible defensively and making plays, too. It's been great so far and things are starting to work out."

They're working out for Schroeder on a line with Mason Raymond and Jannik Hansen and collectively for the Canucks. Aside from a power play that's in a 1-for-23 funk the last five games, they're 5-2-2 and riding a three-game win streak. And that's a bigger story than Cory Schneider starting in an arena where Roberto Luongo has struggled by being pulled in his last three starts here. Regardless, the Canucks are off to a sharp start.

"It's not overly pretty, but we're getting some wins and picking up points," said defenceman Keith Ballard, whose solid game has been one of the good-news stories. "Teams who miss the playoffs and the bad teams, those are the ones when their game is not perfect they're not getting points. It's that small separation of finding ways to win."

If the Minnesota Wild are going to get back to the postseason, adding Zach Parise, Ryan Suter, Dany Heatley and Devin Setoguchi the last two years should make a difference. And if anybody knows what Parise brings, it's Schroeder. He has long admired and trained with Parise, who leads the Wild with six goals and 10 points, even though the 4-4-1 club is ranked 26th offensively with just 2.2 goals per game. Tonight, Parise will line up with rookie Charlie Coyne and Mikko Koivu on the top line.

"Zach is a heck of a player and he works so hard," said Schroeder. "He's always working on his game and has been a great role model for me."

The Wild signed Parise and Suter to 13-year, $98 million US contracts in July and Suter is a disturbing minus-7. Heatley has been bumped to the second line after just eight shots in his last six games and Setoguchi has slipped all the way to the fourth line. Kyle Brodziak hasn't scored in the nine games and is a minus-5 and a lot has fallen on Parise.

"Playing with Mikko, we compliment each other, but I'm surprised a bit about the lack of scoring — we have a lot of guys who can and have scored," said Parise. "We're just going through a tough spot now and we're not doing things well enough to create a scoring chance. We're not doing the five things before getting a scoring chance. That's been the problem but I believe we're going in the right direction."

Minnesota coach Mike Yeo is already scrambling to find lines that work. Centre Mikael Granlund is sitting out tonight with one goal in nine games and Coyne is getting the chance to play on the top line because he deserves it.

"It's pretty special to play with those guys," said Coyne, who made his NHL debut Monday in Phoenix. "I've just got to stay calm and I've got be strong on the net and on the boards and a little of everything."

Parise played with rookie Adam Henrique last season in New Jersey and should steady Coyne's nerves.

"He's a good enough player where you just allow him to play to his strength and simplify the game for him and use the back of the net, so there's an out for him," said Parise. "We've all been there. It's a nerve-wracking thing, so you just stay positive and try not to overload him with information."

OF NOTE — Kevin Bieksa missed the morning skate with illness and is expected to play. If he can't go, Andrew Alberts would slot in. Alex Burrows took a shot off the hand in the skate and was in some discomfort.

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