Back From Minors Stint, Fiset Must Show He’s Fit

After his first minor-league game in 10 years, and then a cross-country flight, goalie Stephane Fiset reported to the Kings’ facility in El Segundo on Thursday no worse for the wear and eager to begin playing in the NHL again.

A practice today will go a long way toward determining when that will be.

Fiset stopped 25 shots in Lowell’s 3-3 tie with Norfolk of the AHL on Wednesday, though observers called two of the surrendered goals “bad.” He was there to test his knee, in which he suffered a strained ligament on Sept. 22 in an exhibition at Anaheim, and as far as Fiset is concerned, he passed.

“There was a little pain,” he said. “That’s OK. There’s going to be a little pain until one day I play a game and there is no pain.”

Fiset played the entire 65 minutes--”Overtime,” he said, “that’s just what I needed”--and, though his conditioning was good, there was something missing.

“No TV timeouts,” he said, laughing. “That’s hard. I need those TV timeouts.”

King Coach Andy Murray said Thursday that he will watch Fiset today in practice to get an idea of his readiness. The Kings host the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night, then play the Mighty Ducks at the Arrowhead Pond on Sunday, and Fiset could play in one of those games.

Or both, though that would be unlikely.

“Jamie was one of the best, if not the best player in the NHL in November,” Murray said of goalie Jamie Storr, who was 6-2-4 during the month and had a 6-0-2 run. But he has given up 20 goals in his last five games, four in 34 minutes of a 7-6 loss to the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.

“We have to consider the month that he had,” Murray said. “I want to see if that’s an aberration.”

Though Murray answered “probably” when asked whether Fiset would play if he is determined ready in practice today, one scenario would be to have Storr play Saturday night, though perhaps with a short leash. Then Fiset would go Sunday.

Still fresh in Murray’s mind, though, is Tuesday’s debacle. The Rangers “had 14 scoring chances,” he said. “Our goal is 13.”

The Rangers earned seven goals on those chances, four against Storr and three against backup Travis Scott.

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Center Eric Belanger, called up from Lowell on Tuesday and installed as the fourth-line center, was moved to the third line after his goal against the Rangers. He was flanked by wingers Kelly Buchberger and Nelson Emerson on Thursday, and their mission is that of a “stopper” line, meaning they will face the opposition’s top-scoring unit.

The reason, Murray said, was Belanger’s play in Lowell, which showed that he could not only play offense, but could handle a defensive role.

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Defenseman Jere Karalahti, who was hit in the foot by a shot from New York’s Theoren Fleury, was limping badly and did not practice, though he said he would today. If Karalahti is unable to play this weekend, Jaroslav Modry will go in and the Kings will recall a minor-league player--Philippe Boucher, Rich Brennan or Andreas Lilja--as a backup defenseman.