Long time between games for Kings’ Scott Parse

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Kings winger Scott Parse is a man of few upper-front teeth and even fewer words.

The 26-year-old from Portage, Mich., seems more comfortable on the ice than in front of a microphone or TV camera, and his imminent return to the lineup Saturday for the first time since Nov. 15 didn’t make him any chattier than usual.

Parse, who underwent hip surgery in November, was added to the lineup by Coach Terry Murray in an effort to stave off playoff elimination. The Sharks will take a 3-1 series lead into Saturday’s game at HP Pavilion and Murray decided reinstating Parse would be the best option to help prolong the series to a sixth game Monday at Staples Center.

Asked what he expects Saturday night, Parse had a brief answer.

“I expect a good game. I have to,” said Parse, who had a goal and four points in five games before the surgery. “We need to win it any way we can so I expect to play well.”

The key to getting back into the series is obvious, he said.

“We’ve got to play better defensively,” he said. “Six goals [against] in back-to-back games — we can’t do that. We’re looking to shut things down and play like we know how to defensively.”

For himself, he said: “I’ve just got to get out there and move my feet. If I’m playing good I’m skating, really creating things, energy, whatever. So as long as I’m skating it should be good.”

That last game Parse played, incidentally, was in San Jose. And he scored his only goal of the season, in a 6-3 loss.

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-- Helene Elliott, in San Jose