DENVER — Colorado Avalanche goaltender Darcy Kuemper did not participate in his team’s optional practice on Wednesday, one day after leaving Game 1 of the Western Conference Final with an “upper-body” injury.
Coach Jared Bednar said he was unsure of Kuemper’s availability for Game 2 on Thursday night.
“We’ll see,” Bednar said. “I don’t know yet.”
Bednar said Kuemper relayed to the bench that he was having an injury issue ahead of Colorado’s power play in the second period.
Rewinding through the second period, Kuemper did not visibly show any sign of obvious discomfort or distress in two separate sequences where the injury may have occurred.
A high shot from Warren Foegele seemed to stun Kuemper after it hit him in the chest; Ryan McLeod was able to deposit the loose puck into the net for Edmonton’s third goal when Kuemper was unaware in the immediate aftermath.
Then, just 13 seconds of game time later, a point blast from Cody Ceci hit Kuemper squarely in the mask.
He was out of the game less than three minutes later. On the broadcast, you could see Kuemper skate to the bench to let Bednar know he couldn’t continue. Kuemper voluntarily pulled himself, he was not pulled by a concussion spotter.
Pavel Francouz entered then, his first career appearance against the Oilers.
“He relayed that he was having some issues, so I told Pav [Francouz] to get ready,” Bednar said Wednesday. “I believe it was during our power play, so no immediate rush to get him out of there. As soon as we got the opportunity, we pulled him out.”
Kuemper’s participation could loom large for the Edmonton Oilers as they look to salvage a split and send the series back to Northern Alberta with home-ice advantage.
Meanwhile, Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft did not commit to Mike Smith starting Game 2, even though not going back to the 40-year-old veteran would be a sizable surprise.
Smith surrendered six goals on 25 shots. He has an .814 save percentage in Game 1s this postseason — all losses for Edmonton — but holds a .957 mark in all other games.
Mikko Koskinen was solid in relief, allowing just one goal on 21 shots.
“We’ll determine Mike’s status and Mikko’s status tomorrow,” Woodcroft told reporters. “I thought Mike Smith was excellent for us all playoffs long. Last night, I didn’t think we did as much as a team to help him out in certain situations.”
If Francouz is to start Game 2, Woodcroft and the Oilers will be ready.
“I’ve seen Francouz a lot in the American Hockey League, so I have a good understanding of what he brings to the table,” Woodcroft said. “He’s a right-handed glove, he’s not the same size as Darcy Kuemper and those would be the major differences. I’m not going to go into our book on Pavel Francouz.”
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