Fiset, Defense Share the Credit

Goaltender Stephane Fiset made 35 saves Tuesday in a 3-0 victory over New Jersey, but he credited his teammates for his 11th career shutout.

“Our defense did such a great job clearing the puck,” said Fiset, who finished 3-0-1 on the recent trip and has given up only 11 goals in his last seven starts. “They were there all of the time to clear the rebound. It was a great effort by everybody.”

As a group, the King defensemen (Rob Blake, Garry Galley, Sean O’Donnell, Aki Berg, Philippe Boucher and Mattias Norstrom) played their best game of the season, but they also shared the credit.

“There were a lot of shots but most of the time our defense was in good position,” Norstrom said. “Our forwards did a great job of getting back and Steph played great.”

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Right wing Glen Murray said the team knew Coach Larry Robinson had never defeated the Devils, whom he coached with during their Stanley Cup season in 1994-95.

“We knew that this was a big game for him,” Murray said. “We knew that we had to have an all-around great game to win. . . . We did and [Fiset] just played unbelievable. It was a great win.”

Blake, who made several crunching checks, said the difference this season is that the Kings believe they can beat any team.

“This was a great game, but it’s going to be great the whole year,” Blake said. “It’s not just this game. This is just the steppingstone. We now have 10 road games out of the way and we’re at .500. We’re a much different team.”

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The Kings received more good news when center Ray Ferraro, who had been sidelined because of torn cartilage in his left knee, was cleared to return to practice wearing a brace.

Ferraro, who played in only three games before suffering his injury, still could face surgery if the knee proves to be too weak, according to Dr. Ronald Kvitne.

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One negative in the King victory was that they were called for their fifth bench penalty of the season for having too many players on the ice. . . . Yanic Perreault assisted on both of Murray’s goals, his first assists of the season. He has 10 points. . . . Players who did not dress against New Jersey were Brad Smyth, Roman Vopat, Olli Jokinen and Doug Zmolek. . . . Nearly 3,000 tickets remain for Thursday’s game against Tampa Bay at the Forum. Saturday’s home game against Montreal has been switched to 7:30 p.m. and fewer than 2,500 tickets are left.