NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Left wing Zach Parise has been left out of the New Jersey Devils' lineup for the second straight game.
Parise returned Saturday after missing roughly four months following surgery on his right knee.
The Devils rested him on Tuesday night against Pittsburgh as a precaution but he was not in the lineup for the team's game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Prudential Center on Wednesday night.
Devils coach Jacques Lemaire refused initially to say why Parise wasn't playing.
However, the coach seemed to indicate that Parise was having questions about his knee.
"What's important to me is the individual, how he feels," Lemaire said. "It's all about how he feels. If he feels that he's ready to go, ready to jump in, he goes. If he's got any doubt then somebody else can change his mind. That's how it works."
Lemaire said there is a chance Parise will play in the Devils' two remaining regular-season games.
New Jersey closes out the season with a game in New York against the Rangers on Saturday and a home contest against Boston on Sunday. New Jersey failed to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 1996.
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