Fuhr Has Edge in Experience

The goaltending matchup for tonight’s Game 1 between St. Louis’ Grant Fuhr and the Kings’ Stephane Fiset looks like a mismatch when their postseason experience is analyzed.

Fuhr is 80-40 with a 3.00 goals-against average in 127 playoff games, compared to Fiset’s 1-2 record and 4.42 average in six games.

Fuhr, however, says that experience can be overrated.

“If you’re winning, it really doesn’t matter,” he said. “Experience helps when things are tough and the game’s close. That’s when guys who know how to deal with a little adversity, which seems to happen in every playoff series, come to play.”

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Fiset, who won only two games after March 26, says he will not do anything different for the playoffs.

“I’m going to go out and try not to do too much; to try to make the game simple for me,” he said. “Not just me but the whole team has to play like we can. I feel more confident now and I had a really good week of practice.”

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King forward Russ Courtnall will face his brother, Geoff, a winger for the Blues, in the playoffs for the second time in his 15-year career. In 1994, Russ played for Dallas and Geoff for Vancouver in a conference semifinal series.

“At this time of year when you meet in the playoffs, I try not to look at who I’m playing against,” said Geoff, who is almost three years older than Russ. “If Russ is out there, I’m not going to not hit him because it’s the playoffs. . . . What it comes down to is that it’s lose and you’re out. So, unfortunately one of has to go home early and hopefully it’s Russ.”