The Colorado Avalanche will be without the services of starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper when they take on the Edmonton Oilers Thursday.
Coach Jared Bednar confirmed that Kuemper would be sidelined with an upper body injury suffered in his team’s 8-6 Game 1 victory on May 31st. Backup netminder Pavel Francouz, who stopped 18 of 21 shots faced in relief Tuesday, will start in Kuemper’s place.
The 32 year old goalie exited midway through the second period in Game 1 after skating over to the bench and speaking with coaching staff during a stoppage in play. In typical playoff hockey fashion, the Avalanche are keeping the exact nature of Kuemper’s injury close to the vest for the time being.
The Saskatoon, SK native was a key component in Colorado’s success this year, going 37-12-4 during the regular season with a .921 SV%. Kuemper has since gone 6-2 in the playoffs with a 2.65 GAA and .897 SV%, but is now on the shelf for the second time this postseason. The veteran netminder also missed time during Colorado’s first round series against Nashville after Ryan Johansen’s stick inadvertently struck him in the eye.
Francouz has filled in admirably for Kuemper when called upon both during the regular season and playoffs. He sports a 2.50 GAA and .919 SV% for his career, and a 3.59 GAA and .889 SV% thus far in the 2022 postseason.
Bednar expressed confidence in Francouz during his media availability stating “He’s played really well for us over the last few years. Stepping into the situation in the Nashville series, he did a great job for us. He came in the other night and did a nice job for us. We’re completely confident he can get the job done.”
No timetable is being put on a possible Kuemper return for the time being. 6’4” 210 lbs Finnish goaltender Justus Annunen was the other goalie on the ice for Colorado’s morning skate, indicating he’s likely to serve as Francouz’s backup in Game 2.
The 22 year old has 2 games of NHL experience under his belt, with both contests coming earlier this season. Annunen sports a career 4.33 GAA and .863 SV% at the NHL level.
Colorado takes on the Oilers Thursday night in Denver at 8pm ET.
-Kyle Skinner
Twitter: @JKyleSkinner
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.